Mapping social capital across Europe: findings, trends and methodological shortcomings of cross-national surveys

2008 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frane Adam
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Institutional Factors ◽  
European Level ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
National Surveys ◽  
European Values ◽  
European Values Study ◽  
Cross National

Two sets of issues are elaborated and reflected on. The first one concerns the distribution of stocks of social capital across European (EU) nations. Using the conventional proxies like trust and associational involvement on the basis of data from cross-national surveys (European Values Study and European Social Survey as well as from Eurobarometer), the main tentative trends and patterns are outlined. The second set of issues refers to the quality and credibility of data. Concerning the first issue, it is possible to speak of four groups of countries with regard to the distribution of social capital at the European level. In contrast to authors who argue that there are no large differences in mean scores across the national patterns, this analysis arrived at more differentiated conclusions. Between the first and fourth groups, a very clear borderline can be drawn, while differences between the second and third groups are not so pronounced. In the context of the thematizing and critical reflection of the validity and comparability of the empirical evidence, some errors and inconsistencies were found. It seems that they appeared in part due to the inappropriate technical design of cross-national surveys and in part because of the countries-specific semantic-cultural as well as institutional factors, which did receive much attention either in the stage of preparing and conducting the survey or in the phase of interpreting and generalizing of the data.

scholarly journals Measuring the trust in the European values study and the European social survey

Sociologija ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 419-439
Author(s):  
Milos Besic
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Trust ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Multilevel Regression ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analyses ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
European Values ◽  
European Values Study

In this paper, we compare the latent construct measurement of political and interpersonal trust in two researches: the European Values Study and the European Social Survey. The main goal was to estimate the validity of measuring the respective concepts. In order to achieve this goal, we conducted a number of Principal Component Analyses and Confirmatory Factor Analyses. Additionally, we used multilevel regression modelling to test and compare the effect of socio-demographic variables on political and interpersonal trust in both researches. We identified that socio-demographic predictors had a similar effect on both types of trust. The paper is complemented with descriptive data that portray the differences among countries when it comes to interpersonal and political trust.

scholarly journals RELIGIOSIDADE DA JUVENTUDE PORTUGUESA : Evolução recente e comparação com o restante da população

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (101) ◽  
Author(s):  
José Pereira Coutinho
Keyword(s):  
European Social Survey ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
International Social Survey Programme ◽  
European Values ◽  
European Values Study ◽  
International Social

Este artigo, baseado no European Values Study, European Social Survey e International Social Survey Programme, discute a evolução da religiosidade juvenil portuguesa no período 1990-2016, comparando com o restante da população, assente em quatro dimensões: comunidade, crença, prática e norma. As dimensões “comunidade”, “prática” e “norma” decrescem, embora a “prática” possa estar estabilizada. A dimensão “crença”, cristã e não cristã, cresce ou mantém-se. As dimensões “comunidade”, “prática” e “norma” são menores nos jovens, enquanto a dimensão “crença”, cristã e não cristã, é maior ou igual nos jovens. O artigo contribui para analisar a religiosidade juvenil em Portugal de forma mais exaustiva do que se encontra atualmente feito.

Het Europese Waardenonderzoek 1981-2017 : Geschiedenis, de internationale context en het Nederlandse veldonderzoek

2019 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-397
Author(s):  
Ruud Luijkx ◽  
Angelica Maineri
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Family Work ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
The Social ◽  
European Values ◽  
European Values Study ◽  
The Waves ◽  
Cross National

Abstract This article outlines the main features of the European Values Study (EVS), with special focus on the innovations implemented in the fifth wave (2017). As a large-scale, cross-national and longitudinal social survey program, the EVS provides insights into the ideas, beliefs, preferences, attitudes, values, and opinions of citizens all over Europe, unique in its combined focus on how Europeans think about life, family, work, religion, politics, and society. The first round of data collection was initiated in 1981, and every nine years, a representative sample of residents have been questioned in an increasing number of countries (47 European countries/regions in 2008). The fifth wave started in 2017 and is at this moment under completion. The methodological standards of EVS increased over the waves. As part of the Horizon 2020 project Synergies for Europe’s Research Infrastructures in the Social Sciences (SERISS), EVS took part in innovations in the field of translation and the implementation of websurveys. The data of the European Values Study are publicly available free of charge. A rich academic literature has accumulated around the original and consecutive surveys: more than 1600 publications are listed in the EVS Bibliography (see europeanvaluesstudy.eu). The final sections of this article describe more in detail the implementation of the EVS 2017 in the Netherlands and end with a peek in the future.

scholarly journals Social capital, ‘Ghent’ and workplace contexts matter: Comparing union membership in Europe

2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernhard Ebbinghaus ◽  
Claudia Göbel ◽  
Sebastian Koos
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Unemployment Insurance ◽  
Union Membership ◽  
Union Density ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Individual Factors ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Establishment Size ◽  
Socio Demographic Factors ◽  
Cross National

Union density still varies considerably across Europe. This cross-national diversity has inspired multiple explanations ranging from institutional to workplace or socio-demographic factors. In this comparative multilevel analysis, we combine personal, workplace and macro-institutional explanations of union membership using the European Social Survey. By controlling for individual factors, we test the cross-national effect of meso- and macro-level variables, in particular workplace representation, establishment size, Ghent unemployment insurance and a society’s social capital. We conclude that all these institutional and social contextual factors matter in explaining differences in union membership.

Social Capital and the Development of Political Support in Europe

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Hooghe ◽  
Anna Kern
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Basic Assumption ◽  
Voluntary Associations ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
The One ◽  
Democratic Norms

This chapter evaluates the claim that the decline of legitimacy is due to a decline of social capital. The idea that voluntary associations play an important role in establishing social cohesion and political support is a traditional insight in the field of political sociology. The basic assumption is that voluntary associations function as a training ground for democracy, where citizens involved acquire democratic norms and skills that they subsequently apply in their relation with the political system. If this argument is correct, political support should be at least partly influenced by citizens’ participation in civil society organizations. Using European Social Survey data from 2006 and 2012 the authors demonstrate that there is a clear and significant correlation between social involvement on the one hand and satisfaction with the working of democracy and political trust on the other, which largely survives the introduction of a range of control variables.

scholarly journals Regional Variation in Inequality of Educational Opportunity across Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 237802312110198
Author(s):  
Bastian A. Betthäuser ◽  
Caspar Kaiser ◽  
Nhat An Trinh
Keyword(s):  
Regional Variation ◽  
Educational Opportunity ◽  
Large Body ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
National Differences ◽  
Inequality Of Educational Opportunity ◽  
Cross National

A large body of literature documents cross-national variation in the level of inequality of educational opportunity (IEO) among children from different social backgrounds. By contrast, relatively little attention has been given to the extent to which IEO varies within counties and across regions. On the basis of data from the European Social Survey, the authors map variation in IEO across regions in Europe and show that IEO varies substantially within counties. This visualization of the heterogeneity of IEO within European countries highlights the need for researchers and policy makers to extend the current focus on cross-national differences and to investigate and address IEO at the regional level. The visualization raises important questions with respect to the contours, causes, and consequences of cross-regional variation in IEO.

The Religious Landscape in Post-communist Slovakia

2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Podolinská
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
International Social Survey Programme ◽  
European Values ◽  
European Values Study ◽  
Main Representative ◽  
Religious Landscape ◽  
International Social

This contribution analyses the results of international sociological surveys that collected data in Slovakia, namely three waves of the European Values Study (EVS 1991, 1999, 2008) and two waves of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP 1999 and ISSP 2006-2008). Focusing on the survey data the essay elucidates the concrete process of religious dynamics in post-communist Slovakia. Attention is paid to the so-called 'core of believers' as the main representative of 'traditional' religiosity, using this unique opportunity to explore the dynamics of this group within the last two decades. The author concludes that even if institutional religiosity is still far more dominant in the Slovak religious scene, the prevailing form of religiosity is of a post-traditional character.

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