News for ESS users
The European Social Survey (ESS) team has several announcements for the users of the web-site.
The European Social Survey (ESS) team has several announcements for the users of the web-site:1. ESS Round 7 Participation & Fieldwork
23 countries are participating in the ESS Round 7. These are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and UK. 17 countries have already finished their fieldwork. The first release of the ESS Round 7 data is expected at the end of October 2015.
2. Round 8 ESS Survey Specification released
The Round 8 ESS Survey Specification has been released. The document shows ESS ERIC Members, Observers and Guests the requirements for undertaking Round 8 of the survey. It is also an overall guide for National Coordinators. The document is available on the ESS website:
3. ESS Exhibition Stand at the 6th Conference of the European Survey Research Association (ESRA)
ESS will have an exhibition stand at the 6th Conference of the European Survey Research Association (ESRA) taking place in Reykjavik, Iceland, 13th - 17th July 2015. Findings booklets, various information and materials as well as user consultation will be provided at the exhibition stand. The ESS HQ team looks forward to seeing many of the users there!
4. Call for Proposals for the ESS Round 9 Rotating Modules
The Call for Proposals for the ESS Round 9 rotating modules will open in September 2015. Multi-national research teams are encouraged to submit proposals for 'new' or 'repeat' topics to be fielded on the ESS in 2018. For Round 9 there will be a two-stage application process. Interested applicants will be asked to submit a short proposal outlining their suggested topic, its importance for policy and academic research and its suitability for a cross-national general population survey such as the ESS (closing date: November 2015). Teams whose proposals are shortlisted at this first stage will then be invited to submit a more detailed proposal for a 30 items module on their chosen topic (closing date: May 2016). A final decision on the two rotating modules for Round 9 will be announced in July 2016.
The Call for Proposals will be published on the ESS website: www.europeansocialsurvey.org.
5. 3rd International ESS Conference - Call for Session Proposals
The 3rd International ESS Conference - Understanding key challenges for European societies in the 21st Century - will take place on 13th-15th July 2016 at University of Lausanne (Switzerland). It will showcase research that uses ESS data to address a range of substantive issues highly relevant to European societies. The conference aims to show the depth and breadth of scientifically rigorous research made possible as a result of the high quality comparative data provided by the ESS. It will bring together ESS data users from around the world and working across a range of disciplines to share ideas.
The 3rd International ESS Conference will have parallel sessions organised around the following themes:
. Immigration
. Work and family
. Wellbeing
. Health
. Welfare provision
. Political evaluations and engagement
. Social attitudes, norms and values
. Other societal challenges
The conference committee would like to invite leading researchers who are using ESS data to carry out comparative research in any of these areas to submit a session proposal for the conference.
Please submit an abstract of up to 400 words outlining the focus of your proposed session to:
The closing date for session proposals is 13th September 2015. Once sessions have been agreed, an open call for papers will be issued in October 2015.
Full details of the call for session proposals are available on the ESS website:
6. 'Measuring and Reporting on Europeans' Wellbeing: Findings from the European Social Survey'
The new ESS initiative 'Measuring and Reporting on Europeans' Wellbeing: Findings from the European Social Survey' showcases the scope that ESS data provide for exploring the definition, distribution and drivers of subjective wellbeing across Europe. The Core Scientific Team of the ESS has collaborated with leading experts on wellbeing in Europe, as well as prominent researchers in fields such as sociology, political science, psychology, demography and geography, to identify some highlights from the rich research into wellbeing being carried out using ESS data. The result of this collaboration is an interactive website www.esswellbeingmatters.org that presents some of the key findings based on the data analysis of the first six ESS rounds.
Academics, policymakers and students are encouraged to explore the new website and use the resource for their own research and informing policy.
A summary of the findings is also available on:
7. ESS Toplines Findings on 'Europeans' Personal and Social Wellbeing'
ESS ERIC published the fifth booklet in the ESS Topline Findings Series on 'Europeans' Personal and Social Wellbeing'. The publication by researchers from the New Economics Foundation (nef) presents findings from the ESS Round 6 and focuses on personal and social wellbeing, exploring how it is distributed across countries, age groups and income groups. It highlights the different components that make up individual wellbeing, including emotional and evaluative wellbeing, supportive relationships and vitality.
The publication is available for download on the ESS website:
8. European Social Attitudes on Democracy presented at the European Parliament
On 4th March 2015, Green MEP Jean Lambert of the European Free Alliance hosted an event at the European Parliament at which key results from the ESS Round 6 module on 'Europeans' understandings and evaluations of democracy' were presented. Based on data from 29 countries across Europe, the research explored what Europeans thought are the essential features of 'democracy' and how they rated the democratic performance of their country. Rory Fitzgerald, ESS ERIC Director, presented an overview of the ESS and Monica Ferrin, University of Zurich, presented the key results from the democracy module.
A short report presenting the results is available for download:
9. Highlights of the Comparative Survey Design and Implementation (CSDI) Workshop
The 2015 international workshop on Comparative Survey Design and Implementation (CSDI) was held on 26th - 28th March 2015 at ESS ERIC HQ based at City University London. Founded in 2002, CSDI brings together researchers with an active interest in advancing cross-national or cross-cultural survey research. The workshop has received the largest number of abstract submissions so far. In total there were 43 presentations by survey researchers and practitioners representing a wide range of comparative surveys from different parts of the world. The programme included topics such as standardised interviewing in cross-national surveys; question design, translation and adaptation; advances in documentation tools for question design, translation and fieldwork management; and challenges in quality monitoring and quality assurance in cross-national surveys. There were productive discussions following the presentations enabling a fruitful experience exchange among survey methodologists and encouraging potential project collaborations.
10. 3MC Conference (Chicago)
The Second International Conference on Survey Methods in Multinational, Multiregional and Multicultural Contexts (3MC 2016) will be held on 25th - 29th July 2016 in Chicago. The conference is a part of an ongoing effort to promote quality in multi-population surveys and to raise the level of methodological expertise in various applied fields of comparative survey research. This conference will bring together researchers and survey practitioners concerned with survey methodology and practice in comparative contexts. It will provide a unique opportunity to discuss and present research that contributes to our understanding of survey needs and methods in multi-cultural, multi-national, and multi-lingual contexts.
Session Proposals can be submitted online:
11. 'Making Wellbeing Count for Policy" Project
Dr Eric Harrison of the Centre for Comparative Social Surveys (which houses the ESS), City University London, has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council in the UK for a project 'Making Wellbeing Count for Policy'. The project involves a collaboration between City University London, New Economics Foundation (nef) and Cambridge University. The focus will primarily be on a UK audience, but with the intention of locating the UK experience within a broader European context. In addition to doing a wide range of data analyses of the ESS rotating modules on 'Personal and Social Wellbeing' (Round 3 and Round 6), the team plans a series of impact events with policy makers in key areas relevant to the study of wellbeing.
The project has recently launched its website:
12. ESS Data User Statistics
The ESS Data Archive team at NSD, Norway produce data user statistics showing the number of registered users of the ESS website and data downloaders by country and activity. As of 15th June 2015, there were 82,092 registered users. These figures are updated regularly, and are available on:
13. Spotlight on the ESS Core Scientific Team (CST)
The ESS team at the University of Ljubljana (UL) is engaged primarily in two areas of the CST's activities. The first distinctive task is dissemination, specifically, bibliographic monitoring and ESS training courses. The aim of bibliographic monitoring is to obtain feedback on the academic and policy relevance of the ESS and assist ESS bodies in making strategic decisions. In the most recent annual report, the number of detected publications based on the ESS data was about 2,300, with the most frequently explored topics being immigration, political participation, welfare, subjective wellbeing, life-work conflict and social capital. Between 2007 and 2013, the UL team has also co-organised 13 methodological training courses with more than 600 participants.
The second distinctive task performed by UL is post-stratification weighting. It involves the calculation of publically available weights for all ESS rounds that can correct for unequal representation of different socio-demographic groups among the respondents. The team is now working on an evaluation of Eurostat procedures and data to inform the next ESS round. Currently, the dissemination activities are led by Dr Brina Malnar and the post-stratification weighting by Dr Vasja Vehovar.
For all the information, visit ESS web-site:
Date
11 July
2015