9th ESS Train: At the ECPR Summer School

Course A: “Working with comparative surveys”

7-8 August 2010, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Instructor: Ineke Stoop

A compelling rationale for comparative studies rests upon the theoretical and substantive advances that will emerge from understanding how institutional arrangements and cultural systems in a country affect attitudes, values and beliefs. This implies that the choice of countries that will be compared should be guided by theory, and that knowledge of national contexts is indispensable. This also implies that differences between countries should be ‘real’ differences, and not due to differences in data collection and survey methodology. When analysing cross-national surveys it is easy to fall into pitfalls and to draw wrong conclusions, because differences in administration modes and response rates, small errors in translation or varying answer scales may have a large impact on survey outcomes and hamper cross-national comparability.

The aim of this course is to provide an introduction to the main issues raised by using cross-national surveys, present different models for harmonisation and focus on the elusive concept of optimal comparability. Methodological choices that can influences survey outcomes, and methodological variation that can influence comparability will be discussed in greater detail. The focus will be on the European Social Survey, partly because of the extensive documentation of methodology and implementation.

The course will be relevant for those who use cross-national surveys, those who want to compare survey data from different countries and those who are designing a cross-national survey. Research articles and a power-point handout will be provided to all participants.

Lecturer: Dr Ineke Stoop, The Netherlands Institute for Social Research/SCP

Ineke Stoop is head of the Department of Data Services and IT, The Netherlands Institute for Social Research/SCP. She obtained her Ph.D. at Utrecht University for a thesis on survey nonresponse. She is a member of the European Statistical Advisory Committee (ESAC) and of the Central Coordinating Team of the European Social Survey. Ms Stoop is co-founder of the Dutch Platform for Survey Research and Laureate of the 2005 Descartes Prize for Excellence in Scientific Collaborative Research. Her main research interests are comparative social surveys and nonresponse. She has taught courses on comparative surveys and nonresponse as part of the ECPR summer school, as ESS training courses, and in The Netherlands, and recently co-authored a book on nonresponse in the European Social Survey.