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International Survey Programs

The Research Data Center (RDC) International Survey Programs provides researchers with data, services, and consultation on a number of important international study series which are under intensive curation by GESIS. They all cover numerous countries and, quite often, substantial time spans. The RDC provides optimal data preparation and access to a wide scope of data and topics for comparative analysis.

International Social Survey Programme (ISSP)

Continuous program of cross-national collaboration running annual surveys on topics important for the social sciences in about 50 countries. (more information)

European Values Study (EVS)

Large-scale, cross-national, and longitudinal survey research program on how Europeans think about family, work, religion, politics and society. Repeated every nine years in an increasing number of countries, the survey provides insights into the ideas, beliefs, preferences, attitudes, values, and opinions of citizens all over Europe. (more information)

Eurobarometer Survey Series

Monitoring the public opinion in the European Union is the mission of the Eurobarometer program, consisting of four survey series (instruments): the Standard and Special Eurobarometer, the Flash Eurobarometer, and the former Central & Eastern and Candidate Countries Eurobarometer. (more information)

European Election Studies (EES, PIREDEU)

The European Election Studies (EES) are about electoral participation and voting behaviour in elections to the European Parliament. EES data offer wide opportunities for comparative and longitudinal research across the EU member states into citizenship, political participation, electoral democracy, and the evaluation of political performance of the European Union (EU) (more information).

Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES)

Data of post-election studies from about 40 countries, conducted since 1996 every five years. (more information)

Overview of international comparative survey research

The RDC International Survey Programs maintains an overview of more than 60 comparative population surveys and survey programs worldwide and since 1948, complemented by references to specialized international context data collections. In part they are also available through GESIS-Search.

GESIS also offers access to selected international data collections such as the EU Neighbourhood Barometer or the Eurofound Surveys and is a member of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR).

ICPSR is the world's largest collection of digital social science data. These data can be used for secondary research, instructional activities, and to write articles, papers, or theses. (More information)

International Survey Programs

Publications on the respective survey programs can be found under:

ISSP Publications and Documentations

EVS Bibliography

Eurobarometer Publications

EES Bibliography

CSES Bibliography and Results

Textbooks, reference publications ...

Cross-Cultural Survey Guidelines (CCSG)

  • These comprehensive guidelines were developed by the Comparative Survey Design and Implementation (CSDI) Initiative in order to internationally evidence and promote best practice for the conduct of cross-national and cross-cultural survey research all along the research data life cycle. 

Cross-Cultural Analysis - Methods and Applications

  • Edited by Eldad Davidov, Peter Schmidt, Jaak Billiet, and Beart Meuleman
    ISBN: 9781138670648
    Publish Date: 09th February 2018

Annual Reports

The annual reports contain information from the data collections, key data from the RDC, and publications by RDC staff from the respective reporting period.

The FDZ International Survey Program has been accredited by the RatSWD.

Since July 2016, the RatSWD has set up a Complaints Office. When using RDC data  you will have the opportunity to address unresolved problems which you could not handle in exchange with the responsible contact person in the RDC. You can find the contact form, as well as details on the competence and procedure, on the website of the RatSWD.

News International Surveys