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The supplementary questionnaire is a separate questionnaire administered after the core questions and the rotating modules. It has two purposes. First, it is the vehicle for a well-established 21-item measure of human values developed by the Israeli psychologist, Professor Shalom Schwartz. The 'Human Values Scale' is designed to classify respondents according to their basic value orientations. The second purpose of the supplementary questionnaire is to help evaluate the reliability and validity of items in the main questionnaire, using the Multi-Trait Multi-Method (MTMM) approach. It carries question wording experiments and other methodological tests aimed at informing future question design both in the ESS itself and more widely.
The supplement is presented to respondents at the end of the main interview in three alternative ways:
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As a straightforward continuation of the face to face interview
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As a self-administered form while the interviewer is still present
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As a self-administered form to be returned by post (or by subsequent collection)
For more information about the supplementary questionnaire and about how it is administered each round, follow the links below:
The same method for administering the supplementary questionnaires that was used in Round 3 will be used in Round 4. The example below shows the three self-completition versions of the Supplementary questionnaire.
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Part 1 (Version A)
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Part 2 (Version B)
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Part 3 (Version C)
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In round 3, the same method for administering the supplementary questionnaires will be used as that developed for round 2.
A paper describing the rationale for the experiments being included in ESS Round 3 will be available shortly.
The example below shows the 3 Self-completion versions of the Supplementary questionnaire.
As in Round 1, the ESS Supplementary Questionnaire contained two sets of items. It began with the 21-item Schwartz Scale of Human Values which has proved to be of such excellent analytical value. There then followed a small number of test questions devised by Willem Saris in order to test different wordings or approaches to measuring the same variables. These methods experiments are an integral part of the ESS, designed to inform future question design both in the ESS itself and more widely. There are three different versions of the test questions, each administered to a split ballot of one third of respondents.
Unlike in Round 1, where different countries were free to choose different designs for the Supplementary Questionnaire, the process was simplified in Round 2 so that all countries used the same experimental design. The only difference was that some countries preferred to administer this part of the ESS face-to-face and others by self-completion questionnaire, so this choice remained open. Mode choice was decided in advance of fieldwork by National Coordinators in consultation with their survey organisations and communicated to the CCT who then supplied the appropriate questionnaires. Note that this decision could not be taken by interviewers.
- All countries fielded three versions of the supplementary questionnaire (either by face-to-face or self-completion methods) to different groups of respondents. Each version contained the same 21-point Schwartz scale of human values, followed by a DIFFERENT variant of the 12 test questions
- As in Round 1, a split-ballot design was used, dividing the sample into three RANDOM SUB-GROUPS (A, B, and C), each of whom received the appropriate version of the Supplementary Questionnaire. Thus, no single respondent was required to answer more than 12 test questions (plus the Schwartz scale).
Thus, six different versions of the Supplementary Questionnaire were available Versions F-2-F A, F-2-F B, and F-2-F C (face-to-face), and Versions SCA, SCB and SCC (self-completion).
Only in exceptional circumstances could interviewers assist respondents with self-completion questionnaires - for example, where the respondent had difficulties due to poor eyesight or literacy problems. All such instances were recorded in the interviewer questionnaire.
The example below shows the 3 Self-completion versions of the Supplementary questionnaire.
In addition to the Human Values Scale, the round 1 supplementary questionnaire contained 36 MTMM test questions. In the MTMM experimental design, not all the questions are asked of all respondents. Instead, they are divided and randomly allocated to different respondents, as follows:
Each country chooses between randomly allocating:
two different versions of the MTMM questions (each with 18 questions), plus the Schwarz items
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six different versions of the MTMM questions (each with 6 questions), plus the Schwarz items
Thus each country is free to choose both the mode of interview and the extent of random allocation as shown below:
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Interviewer administered, face-to-face (with show cards) |
Self completion |
| Interviewer present |
Drop off form |
| 6-version split: 6 questions per R |
F-F6: different forms for each of groups A to F |
S-C6: different forms for each of groups A to F |
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| 2-version split: 18 questions per R |
F-F2: different forms for each of groups A & B |
S-C2: different forms for each of groups A & B |
< B & A groups of each for forms different S-C2:> | Note: The missing option - the 6-version drop-off - is not available because it could lead to inadequate cell sizes.
So, if the 6-version split is chosen, each respondent will get only 6 of the MTMM questions (plus the Schwartz items), amounting to 27 questions (under 7 minutes). And if the 2-version split is chosen, each respondent will get 18 MTMM questions (plus the Schwartz items), amounting to 39 questions (under 10 minutes).
As far as randomisation is concerned, there are various ways of achieving it in a relatively pain-free way. For those using CAPI, it can simply be built into the programme - whether as a two-way or a six-way random split. For PAPI, it may best be achieved by collating the appropriate forms in order into a booklet, so that the interviewer can then just peel off one at a time when required. Alternatively, a suffix (a to f, or a to b) could be added to each serial number to ensure that each respondent is given the right form. In this way they should be randomised across interviewers and respondents.
The example below shows the full set of questions asked in the round 1 supplementary questionnaire.
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The Questionnaire 
