British Participation in the International Social Survey Programme, 2016 - 2018
Lead Research Organisation:
NatCen Social Research
Department Name: Research Department
Abstract
The International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) is one of the most important attempts to undertake cross-national survey research that currently exists. 46 countries currently participate, covering all five of inhabited continents across the world. Each year, member countries field an agreed module of 60 questions on a particular topic, usually as part of an existing random probability survey. The data from these studies, along with a set of prescribed socio-demographic background variables is then deposited in an agreed format with ISSP data archive.
A wide range of different modules have been fielded since the project began in 1985, covering topics such as social inequality, religion and the role of government. Topics are chosen at an annual plenary meeting by attending members. They are revisited periodically, with a number having been covered three or four times. As a result, ISSP data can be used both to examine differences between countries at a particular point in time and to compare differences in trends over time.
A combined dataset containing data for all countries is made publicly available to the research community approximately two years after data collection has taken place. ISSP data are widely used; worldwide, over 200 publications are recorded each year. In Britain, there have been over 500 publications using ISSP data since the programme began, close to 10% of the worldwide total.
Since ISSP began, Britain's participation has been facilitated by including the ISSP module on a self-completion supplement that forms part of the British Social Attitudes survey (BSA), an annual, high quality independent survey conducted by NatCen. This is a highly cost effective way of fielding the module, as only the marginal costs of asking the ISSP questions have to be covered.
Until 2002, British participation was primarily funded through core funding given to the Centre for Research into Elections and Social Trends, an ESRC Research Centre. Since 2004 it has been funded as a research resource by the ESRC Resources Board, and this application proposes that this arrangement should continue for a further three years.
ISSP will cover three topics during this period: role of government (2016), social networks (2017) and religion (2018):
- The role of government module was previously fielded in 1985, 1990, 1996 and 2006. Its repetition will provide valuable data allowing us to track how views about issues such as extremism, surveillance and counter-terrorism have changed over time, at a time when many countries have experienced terror attacks or threats (and thus when we might anticipate attitude change)
- The 2017 module on social networks was fielded in 1986 and 2004, and will include questions on support networks, a census of family and friendship relations, the use of social media in maintaining relationships, and whether relationships are positive or not. The module also looks at who should provide care and services for vulnerable groups at a time when an aging population is causing financial strain in many countries
- The 2018 module on religion (asked 1991, 1998, 2008) will allow us to examine spirituality and well-being, the place of religion within state institutions, and the role of religion in conflict and extremism. This will provide valuable insights into how people follow and perceive religion during a period when it has been called on to justify acts of extremism and aggression
A range of dissemination activities promoting awareness and use of ISSP data by social science researchers, policy-makers and media are proposed. These include: including at least one chapter a year based on ISSP data in the annual BSA report, which is freely available online and widely disseminated; developing a bespoke ISSP website including visualization of ISSP data; utilizing NatCen's strong social media presence to raise awareness of the data; delivering presentations to relevant research and policy audiences.
A wide range of different modules have been fielded since the project began in 1985, covering topics such as social inequality, religion and the role of government. Topics are chosen at an annual plenary meeting by attending members. They are revisited periodically, with a number having been covered three or four times. As a result, ISSP data can be used both to examine differences between countries at a particular point in time and to compare differences in trends over time.
A combined dataset containing data for all countries is made publicly available to the research community approximately two years after data collection has taken place. ISSP data are widely used; worldwide, over 200 publications are recorded each year. In Britain, there have been over 500 publications using ISSP data since the programme began, close to 10% of the worldwide total.
Since ISSP began, Britain's participation has been facilitated by including the ISSP module on a self-completion supplement that forms part of the British Social Attitudes survey (BSA), an annual, high quality independent survey conducted by NatCen. This is a highly cost effective way of fielding the module, as only the marginal costs of asking the ISSP questions have to be covered.
Until 2002, British participation was primarily funded through core funding given to the Centre for Research into Elections and Social Trends, an ESRC Research Centre. Since 2004 it has been funded as a research resource by the ESRC Resources Board, and this application proposes that this arrangement should continue for a further three years.
ISSP will cover three topics during this period: role of government (2016), social networks (2017) and religion (2018):
- The role of government module was previously fielded in 1985, 1990, 1996 and 2006. Its repetition will provide valuable data allowing us to track how views about issues such as extremism, surveillance and counter-terrorism have changed over time, at a time when many countries have experienced terror attacks or threats (and thus when we might anticipate attitude change)
- The 2017 module on social networks was fielded in 1986 and 2004, and will include questions on support networks, a census of family and friendship relations, the use of social media in maintaining relationships, and whether relationships are positive or not. The module also looks at who should provide care and services for vulnerable groups at a time when an aging population is causing financial strain in many countries
- The 2018 module on religion (asked 1991, 1998, 2008) will allow us to examine spirituality and well-being, the place of religion within state institutions, and the role of religion in conflict and extremism. This will provide valuable insights into how people follow and perceive religion during a period when it has been called on to justify acts of extremism and aggression
A range of dissemination activities promoting awareness and use of ISSP data by social science researchers, policy-makers and media are proposed. These include: including at least one chapter a year based on ISSP data in the annual BSA report, which is freely available online and widely disseminated; developing a bespoke ISSP website including visualization of ISSP data; utilizing NatCen's strong social media presence to raise awareness of the data; delivering presentations to relevant research and policy audiences.
Planned Impact
The primary beneficiaries of this project will be social scientists, both in Britain and internationally, with an interest in conducting cross-national research. The data collected as part of ISSP will provide them with a unique resource (see section on Academic Beneficiaries and Case for Support for further details).
Academics will readily be able to access the British data through the UK Data Archive whilst the full cross-national data set will be made available one year later via the ISSP website and the ZentralArchiv fur Emprische Sozialforschung (ZA), University of Cologne. As in previous years, full documentation will be provided along with the data.
The importance of the data set to academic users is reflected in the large number of publications using ISSP data. In Britain alone, over 500 publications using ISSP data have been recorded (Britain is the 3rd highest contributing country after the USA and Germany). Use of the British data is of course far greater than this figure suggests, as they are used in a wide range of publications generated outside the UK (the worldwide total for known publications using ISSP data stands at 7,713). Further information about ISSP publication trends can be found at www.issp.org/page.php?pageId=150.
We are committed to a wide range of dissemination activities to ensure that the ISSP data collected are widely known about, used and cited within the academic community. These include:
- Developing a bespoke website for Britain's involvement in ISSP, linking to the relevant ISSP and BSA data-sets and serving as a platform for providing information on and generating interest in the survey.
- Giving presentations on ISSP to appropriate audiences (in recent years, these have included a UNESCO roundtable event, and a special lecture organised by NatCen, City University and ESDS, which focused on ISSP and the European Social Survey)
- Ensuring information about data releases appears on relevant academic list-servers
- Publicising findings by including chapters based on ISSP data in the annual BSA reports. For example,
- the 33rd Report (2016) will include a chapter on work orientation using questions asked on this topic on the 2012 survey. The chapter will explore the polarisation of attitudes towards and evaluations of work across a period of recession and instability, and will make use of time series data on this topic, which was also asked in 2005, 1997 and 1989;
- The latest report (British Social Attitudes: the 32nd report), published in 2015, drew on ISSP questions asked on citizenship in 2014. Phillips and Simpson used this data alongside questions asked elsewhere on the British Social Attitudes survey to explore current trends around interest in politics.
- The previous report (Kiss and Park in the 31st report) drew extensively on the ISSP 2013 National identity module. Here the authors explored civic and ethnic definitions of national identity. They were able to make comparisons with 1995 and 2003 when British Social Attitudes last featured the ISSP National identity module.
- The 30th Report (2013) included a chapter on gender roles and family using questions asked in the 2012 survey (and previously 2002, 1994 and 1988). This chapter drew much media attention;
Whilst the main purpose of this application is for funds to provide a resource for the academic community, it is anticipated that the published findings that result from it will be of considerable interest to wider communities including government policy makers, practitioners and the media. Several elements of our proposed dissemination strategy will help ISSP findings to reach and inform a wider audience, in addition our commitment to ensuring that the annual British Social Attitudes report, which receives extensive media coverage, contains a chapter using ISSP data each year.
Academics will readily be able to access the British data through the UK Data Archive whilst the full cross-national data set will be made available one year later via the ISSP website and the ZentralArchiv fur Emprische Sozialforschung (ZA), University of Cologne. As in previous years, full documentation will be provided along with the data.
The importance of the data set to academic users is reflected in the large number of publications using ISSP data. In Britain alone, over 500 publications using ISSP data have been recorded (Britain is the 3rd highest contributing country after the USA and Germany). Use of the British data is of course far greater than this figure suggests, as they are used in a wide range of publications generated outside the UK (the worldwide total for known publications using ISSP data stands at 7,713). Further information about ISSP publication trends can be found at www.issp.org/page.php?pageId=150.
We are committed to a wide range of dissemination activities to ensure that the ISSP data collected are widely known about, used and cited within the academic community. These include:
- Developing a bespoke website for Britain's involvement in ISSP, linking to the relevant ISSP and BSA data-sets and serving as a platform for providing information on and generating interest in the survey.
- Giving presentations on ISSP to appropriate audiences (in recent years, these have included a UNESCO roundtable event, and a special lecture organised by NatCen, City University and ESDS, which focused on ISSP and the European Social Survey)
- Ensuring information about data releases appears on relevant academic list-servers
- Publicising findings by including chapters based on ISSP data in the annual BSA reports. For example,
- the 33rd Report (2016) will include a chapter on work orientation using questions asked on this topic on the 2012 survey. The chapter will explore the polarisation of attitudes towards and evaluations of work across a period of recession and instability, and will make use of time series data on this topic, which was also asked in 2005, 1997 and 1989;
- The latest report (British Social Attitudes: the 32nd report), published in 2015, drew on ISSP questions asked on citizenship in 2014. Phillips and Simpson used this data alongside questions asked elsewhere on the British Social Attitudes survey to explore current trends around interest in politics.
- The previous report (Kiss and Park in the 31st report) drew extensively on the ISSP 2013 National identity module. Here the authors explored civic and ethnic definitions of national identity. They were able to make comparisons with 1995 and 2003 when British Social Attitudes last featured the ISSP National identity module.
- The 30th Report (2013) included a chapter on gender roles and family using questions asked in the 2012 survey (and previously 2002, 1994 and 1988). This chapter drew much media attention;
Whilst the main purpose of this application is for funds to provide a resource for the academic community, it is anticipated that the published findings that result from it will be of considerable interest to wider communities including government policy makers, practitioners and the media. Several elements of our proposed dissemination strategy will help ISSP findings to reach and inform a wider audience, in addition our commitment to ensuring that the annual British Social Attitudes report, which receives extensive media coverage, contains a chapter using ISSP data each year.
Organisations
Publications
Clery, E
(2018)
British Social Attitudes, The 35th Report
Curtice, J
(2018)
British Social Attitudes, The 35th Report
Curtice, J
(2018)
British Social Attitudes, The 35th Report
Voas, D
(2019)
British Social Attitudes, The 36th Report
Yaojun, L
(2018)
British Social Attitudes, The 35th Report
| Description | The main output of the grant is a rich data resource for academics, other research users and policy makers. The grant funds Britain's participation in the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), with data collected annually as part of the British Social Attitudes survey and deposited at the UK Data Archive. The data also forms part of a cross-national dataset covering nearly 50 countries worldwide (available at the ISSP data archive). This grant covered three years of ISSP data collection, on Role of Government (2016), Social Networks (2017) and Religion (2018). Each annual British Social Attitudes Report, which is freely available online and receives extensive media coverage, contains at least one chapter using ISSP data. Links and key findings from the chapters based on the three modules covered by this grant are as follows. The 36th report included a chapter on Religion, based on British data from the ISSP Religion module fielded in 2018. Key findings included the following: • 52% of the public now say they do not regard themselves as belonging to any religion. • Two-thirds (66%) of people in Britain never attend religious services, apart from special occasions such as weddings, funerals and baptisms. • Almost two-thirds (63%) believe religions bring more conflict than peace. • Under half (46%) have some or more confidence in churches and religious organisations, with 21% expressing "no confidence at all". • Most people have a positive, or at least tolerant view, of members of other religious groups, but have more reservations about extremism. The 35th report included a chapter on Social Trust that was based on British data from the ISSP Social Networks module. Key findings included the following: • 54% say that people can almost always or usually trusted, which is an increase from 47% in 2014 • Social trust is particularly linked to the types of activities people do with others - 63% of people who do leisure, sport or cultural activities with others once a week or more are trusting compared with 44% of those never do these activities with other people. • Those with the highest level of education (degree or another higher education qualification) have levels of trust around 20 percentage points higher than those with qualifications that are lower than GCSE or who have no qualifications (64% compared with 42%). • The extent and status of people's social networks predicts trust even when controlling for social participation and socio-economic and demographic factors. The 34th report included three chapters which included British data from the ISSP Role of Government module. The civil liberties chapter included the following key findings: • Disagreement with the view that the death penalty is the most appropriate sentence for some crimes has doubled since 1986 - from 19% to 37% now. 45% agree with this view. • 41% think that detaining people for as long as the government wants without putting them on trial in times of terrorist threat should not be allowed, an increase of 10 percentage points since 2006 (31%). Around half (53%) think that this should be allowed. • 80% think the government definitely or probably should have the right to keep people under video surveillance in public areas, while 50% think they should have the right to monitor emails and other information exchanged on the internet. • People who are older, are less well-educated, are positive about the government's success in dealing with threats to national security and who are concerned about immigration are all more likely to support government activities in relation to national security. The role of government chapter included the following key findings: • There is less support for government meeting the needs of the unemployed. Only 48% now think the government has a responsibility to find a job for everyone who wants one, down from 65% in 1996. • Support for more government spending on unemployment benefits has fallen from 33% in 1996 to just 16% now. • Improving the standard of living of pensioners has become less of a priority. 52% now think that the government "definitely" has a responsibility for providing a decent standard of living for the old, down from 69% in 1996. • 55% are now in favour of spending more government money on pensions, compared with 76% in 1996. The Brexit chapter included key findings as follows: • There is a link between how people voted in the EU referendum and their sense of 'political efficacy'. Among those who agree with the statement that "voting is the only way people like me can have any say about how the government runs things", 50% voted to leave, whereas among those who disagreed just 34% did so. • Among those who agree that "People like me don't have any say about what the government does" 55% voted to leave, while among those who disagreed, 37% did so. • Trust in political institutions was related to how people voted in the EU referendum in 2016. Those who said they distrust greatly the government, or parliament, were around 20 points more likely to have voted Leave than were those who said they trusted the institution. |
| Exploitation Route | The British Social Attitudes reports are freely available online and receive considerable media attention, meaning that they are likely to have widespread impact across different audiences, including academics, research users and policy makers and the general public. The BSA report website has had over 160,000 visitors since its inception, and since the BSA 35th report was published in July 2018, BSA has had over 1650 media mentions (press/online). Individual chapters also attract high volumes of views/visitors. By way of illustration, the Brexit chapter from BSA 34 (which included ISSP data) has had over 20,000 unique page views since it was published; while the 'social trust' chapter summary page in the BSA 35th report received over 9000 unique page views in the first seven months after launch. Academics, policy makers and other researchers are able to access the British data through the UK Data Archive whilst the full cross-national data set is available via the ISSP website and the ZentralArchiv fur Emprische Sozialforschung (ZA), University of Cologne. As in previous years, full documentation is provided along with the data. The topics covered by ISSP, along with the wide range of countries included in the data set, means that there is plenty of scope for the data to be used to address research questions of interest to policy makers, third sector organisations and the wider research community. The importance of the data set to academic users is reflected in the large number of publications using ISSP data. To date, ISSP data has been used in over 9000 publications world-wide. This count is based on publications known to use ISSP data from at least two member countries, and so does not include publications that only consider ISSP data from one country. Nearly seven percent of ISSP publications are identifiable as originating in Great Britain. The use of British ISSP data is far higher than this, however, as it is also used in a large number of publications generated outside the UK. Further publication trends can be found here: http://www.issp.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Bibliography/ISSPBiblio_report_2018.pdf |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Government, Democracy and Justice,Security and Diplomacy |
| URL | http://www.natcen.ac.uk/our-research/research/international-social-survey-programme/ |
| Description | The main output of the grant is a rich data resource for academics, other research users and policy makers. The grant funds Britain's participation in the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), with data collected annually as part of the British Social Attitudes survey and deposited at the UK Data Archive. The 2016, 2017 and 2018 survey datasets have now been deposited. BSA is one of the most frequently downloaded datasets from the Archive, with research users coming from a wide range of organisations including central and local government, universities, third sector organisations and research organisations. The data also forms part of a cross-national dataset covering nearly 50 countries worldwide (available at the ISSP data archive). The topics covered by ISSP, along with the wide range of countries included in the data set, means that there is plenty of scope for the data to be used to address research questions of interest to policy makers, third sector organisations and the wider research community. This grant covers three years of ISSP data collection, on role of government (2016), social networks (2017) and religion (2018). In addition to collecting and depositing the data for other research users, NatCen achieves impact beyond the academic community through the promotion of International Social Survey Programme data to non-academic users. There are two main mechanisms for this: first through including the findings in the annual British Social Attitudes Report. The second is through dissemination activities such as presentations, seminars, launch events and workshops. 1) Each annual British Social Attitudes Report, which is freely available online contains a chapter using ISSP data. The impact of BSA is helped by its high media profile - illustrated by the fact that in 2017 and 2018 the survey was mentioned more than 1,650 times in the national, online and local media; while in 2016 we had over 100 mentions on Twitter each month. The Brexit chapter from BSA 34 (which included ISSP data) had over 20,000 unique page views in the year it was published; the Social Trust chapter from BSA35 (based on the ISSP social networks module) had over 9,000 page views. The BSA35 website had over 45,000 visitors in the year it was launched, while nearly 3000 chapters from the report were downloaded. This explicitly open-access approach means the findings are likely to have widespread impact across different audiences, including the wider social science community, policy makers and the general public. 2) In the period covered by this grant, NatCen staff promoted the International Social Survey Programme (and the data collected by BSA) at a number of external facing events and presentations: - We held a breakfast briefing to launch the BSA 36th report, at the Houses of Parliament. It was standing room only for an engaged audience of 80 experts in government, media and across social research organisations. Our host, Anneliese Dodds MP, started the proceeding by sharing some of the media reactions to this year's findings and introducing our expert panel of speakers. Nancy Kelley, NatCen's Deputy Chief Executive highlighted the key findings, leading with the ISSP data on religion. Rudolf Eliott Lockhart, Chief Executive of The Religion Education Council, was second to speak and gave his thoughts on the religion chapter. He used his speech to talk about the importance of religious education - particularly for young people and its contribution to understanding society and cultural diversity. - We held an event to launch the BSA 35th report, bringing together BSA authors and funders with delegates from political parties, civil service, media, corporates and civil society. The event covered the 2017 survey's key findings which examines the issues that unite and divide modern Britain, including findings from the ISSP module on social networks. Polly Mackenzie, Director of think tank Demos, then responded, explaining what she thought these findings meant for society and politics. The formal section of the event concluded with a thought-provoking audience Q&A. Research Live covered the event. - We held a launch event for the BSA 34th Report at the House of Commons Library (June 2017) which included ISSP data. The event attracted interest from a wide range of attendees including Members of the House of Lords and Parliament, central government policy makers, PR agencies, third sector organisations and charities/campaign groups, thinktanks and market researchers. - NatCen contributed to a blog on the 'What works wellbeing' website, which aimed to promote the findings, and raise the further analysis possibilities of data included in the BSA35th report 'Social Trust' chapter, based on the ISSP 'Social Networks' module. - ISSP and/or the 2016 'Role of government', 2017 'Social networks' or 2018 'Religion' module data was included in presentations to various government, private, third sector and other non-academic users, including: • Various PR / Public Affairs agencies • Citizens Advice (annual conference, and HQ) • Most central government departments including DWP, HMT • Government Social and Economic Research at the Treasury (October 2016) • Shadow Work and Pensions Team • HMT • Scope, National Housing Federation • King's Fund The House of Commons library (October 2019) |
| First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Societal,Policy & public services |
| Title | British Social Attitudes 2016 dataset |
| Description | Data collected as part of the British Social Attitudes survey in 2016 |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Data have been used in a number of outputs, including chapters in the British Social Attitudes annual report for that survey year. |
| URL | https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/studies/study?id=8252 |
| Title | British Social Attitudes 2017 dataset |
| Description | Contains data collected as part of BSA 2017 survey |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Data was used for various outputs, including chapters in the British Social Attitudes 35th report, also client reports on different topic areas. |
| URL | https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/studies/study?id=8450 |
| Title | British Social Attitudes 2018 dataset |
| Description | Data collected as part of the British Social Attitudes 2018 survey. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Data has been used for various outputs, including chapters in the British Social Attitudes 36th report, and client reports on different topic areas. |
| URL | https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/studies/study?id=8606 |
| Description | BSA 36 launch event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | On 11th July 2019 we launched the British Social Attitudes 36th report in the House of Commons. An engaged audience of 70 experts in Government, media and across social research organisations attended. We were hosted by Anneliese Dodds MP. An expert panel of speakers included Nancy Kelley, NatCen's Deputy Chief Executive; Rudolf Eliott Lockhart, Chief Executive of The Religion Education Council; Stella Creasy MP, Labour MP for Walthamstow, and BSA author and editor Sir John Curtice. The panel presented and discussed the latest results, with a focus on policy implications. Religion (the ISSP topic for 2018) was one of the two key topics covered. The event ended with a lively Question and Answers session with a lot of debate amongst the audience and between our speakers. In response to our feedback survey sent to all attendees, the event was rated Excellent and Good. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | BSA35 launch event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Event held at a central London location to launch the latest BSA findings, including the social networks data (the ISSP module in 2017). Subsequently the presentation was delivered to individual organisations, charities and government departments. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Blog |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | NatCen researchers contributed to a blog on the "What works wellbeing" website, all about analysis of ISSP data that had been reported in the BSA 35th annual report. The blog aimed to disseminate the findings further, and propose avenues for further analysis. It mentioned the data availability for other researchers/users. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://whatworkswellbeing.org/blog/what-might-a-rise-in-social-trust-mean-for-our-wellbeing/ |
| Description | Launch event for BSA34 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | We held a launch event for the BSA 34th Report at the House of Commons Library; the presentation included ISSP data. The event attracted interest from a wide range of attendees including Members of the House of Lords and Parliament, central government policy makers, PR agencies, third sector organisations and charities/campaign groups, thinktanks and market researchers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |