European Social Survey, Round 11 and 12 UK National Coordinator for the UK component of the European Social Survey
Lead Research Organisation:
NatCen Social Research
Department Name: Research Department
Abstract
The European Social Survey (ESS) is a unique cross-national study which, since 2002, has sought to measure and explain the relationship between Europe's changing institutions and the attitudes, values and behaviours of its population.
The survey is run biennially. Each Round contains a set of core set of questions, which cover a range of topics including media use, social trust, political affiliation and engagement, subjective well-being, social exclusion, religion, discrimination, national identity citizenship, immigration as well as socio-demographic classification questions.
In addition, each Round contains two rotating question modules. Each module focuses on a particular topic in more detail. The topics for inclusion are selected by an open competition among academics organised by the ESS Central Strategic team. Academic teams submit their applications and justifications for their topics and details of what they seek to measure and how this will be achieved. The topics for Round 11 are Gender and Social Inequalities in Health Justice and Fairness in Society and Timing of Life, which repeats a module run in an earlier Round. The topics for Round 12 are yet to be finalised.
Each participating country appoints a National Coordinator, whose role is to oversee the implementation of the ESS in that country and a survey organisation which undertakes the fieldwork and prepares the data. This proposal relates to the role of the National Coordinator.
The aim of the National Coordinator (NC) is to oversee the implementation of the ESS in the UK, coordinating between the various different groups involved in ESS and promoting ESS data to analysts as well as other interested parties for example in government, or the third sector. The NC may have to oversee the appointment of a survey organisation to administer the fieldwork (dependent on whether the NC themselves works for a survey organisation that itself might bid). The NC must ensure that the survey is conducted according to the high standards of the ESS at all stages, from sample design through to data collection and preparation of the final dataset for delivery to the ESS archive. These standards and requirements are set out in the ESS specifications prepared by the ESS Director and CST. The NC must also agree the necessary adjustments to the ESS questionnaire to ensure it is appropriate for the UK, whilst at the same time ensuring that the ESS data requirements are met. In addition, the NC provides advice to the CST and contributes to discussions about questionnaire design and the ESS methodology and attends the biannual NC Forum meetings.
The ESS is a high-profile and widely respected social survey with which NatCen has a long association. This can be traced back to the original inception of the ESS, which was driven by Professor Roger Jowell, SCPR's (as NatCen was known then) founder. In many respects, the ESS shares a lot of similarities with British Social Attitudes (BSA), NatCen's own attitudinal survey. We therefore share many of the values and objectives of ESS, in particular a commitment to rigorous methodology and a desire to shed light on the attitudes and opinions of the general population.
NatCen has undertaken the coordination of the first ten rounds of the ESS as well as the survey fieldwork in 2002, 2008, 2014 and 2016, 2018 and currently in 2021/22. We have also conducted a mixed mode experiment alongside Round 6 using a combination of face-to-face and online data collection. We also undertook the recruitment of the UK element of the CRONOS panel as part of Round 8 and are partipating in recruitment of the panel as part of Round 10.
The survey is run biennially. Each Round contains a set of core set of questions, which cover a range of topics including media use, social trust, political affiliation and engagement, subjective well-being, social exclusion, religion, discrimination, national identity citizenship, immigration as well as socio-demographic classification questions.
In addition, each Round contains two rotating question modules. Each module focuses on a particular topic in more detail. The topics for inclusion are selected by an open competition among academics organised by the ESS Central Strategic team. Academic teams submit their applications and justifications for their topics and details of what they seek to measure and how this will be achieved. The topics for Round 11 are Gender and Social Inequalities in Health Justice and Fairness in Society and Timing of Life, which repeats a module run in an earlier Round. The topics for Round 12 are yet to be finalised.
Each participating country appoints a National Coordinator, whose role is to oversee the implementation of the ESS in that country and a survey organisation which undertakes the fieldwork and prepares the data. This proposal relates to the role of the National Coordinator.
The aim of the National Coordinator (NC) is to oversee the implementation of the ESS in the UK, coordinating between the various different groups involved in ESS and promoting ESS data to analysts as well as other interested parties for example in government, or the third sector. The NC may have to oversee the appointment of a survey organisation to administer the fieldwork (dependent on whether the NC themselves works for a survey organisation that itself might bid). The NC must ensure that the survey is conducted according to the high standards of the ESS at all stages, from sample design through to data collection and preparation of the final dataset for delivery to the ESS archive. These standards and requirements are set out in the ESS specifications prepared by the ESS Director and CST. The NC must also agree the necessary adjustments to the ESS questionnaire to ensure it is appropriate for the UK, whilst at the same time ensuring that the ESS data requirements are met. In addition, the NC provides advice to the CST and contributes to discussions about questionnaire design and the ESS methodology and attends the biannual NC Forum meetings.
The ESS is a high-profile and widely respected social survey with which NatCen has a long association. This can be traced back to the original inception of the ESS, which was driven by Professor Roger Jowell, SCPR's (as NatCen was known then) founder. In many respects, the ESS shares a lot of similarities with British Social Attitudes (BSA), NatCen's own attitudinal survey. We therefore share many of the values and objectives of ESS, in particular a commitment to rigorous methodology and a desire to shed light on the attitudes and opinions of the general population.
NatCen has undertaken the coordination of the first ten rounds of the ESS as well as the survey fieldwork in 2002, 2008, 2014 and 2016, 2018 and currently in 2021/22. We have also conducted a mixed mode experiment alongside Round 6 using a combination of face-to-face and online data collection. We also undertook the recruitment of the UK element of the CRONOS panel as part of Round 8 and are partipating in recruitment of the panel as part of Round 10.