European Values Study
The European Values Study is a comprehensive, transnational, empirical long-term study of the values and attitudes of Europeans .
History of the study
The European Value Study was initiated in 1978 by the European Value Systems Study Group (EVSSG), an informal association of social scientists . The aim is to find out whether Europeans share common values, whether and in which direction these values are changing, what role Christianity plays in this and what effects this will have for European unity. Today the study, which is to be repeated every nine years (previous surveys in 1981, 1990, 1999/2000, 2008), is carried out by a foundation called the European Values Study . The study is being carried out by experts in each of the 33 European countries examined. In the meantime, the EVS has been expanded into a global values study with the World Values Survey (WVS) and is now supported by a worldwide network of social scientists.
Scope of Study and Importance
The EVS is by far the most comprehensive study on the recording of human values in Europe. To date, more than 100,000 people have been questioned and a good 23 million pieces of information have been collected over a period of 20 years. EVS and WVS thus offer unique resources for empirical social research. A large number of publications have already been made on the basis of this data .
methodology
The EVS or WVS uses standardized questionnaires to collect data in personal interviews, including on religious attitudes and practices of European citizens over the age of 18.
Access to EVS data
The EVS and WVS data are publicly available online on the official homepages (see below) and are also published in source books .
See also
Literature based on the EVS
- Denz, Hermann (ed.), The European soul. Life and Faith in Europe , Vienna 2002.
- Gerhards, Jürgen, Cultural Differences in the European Union. A comparison between member countries, candidate countries and Turkey , Wiesbaden 2005.
- Peter / Halman, Loek / Moor, Ruud de (Eds.), The Individualizing Society. Value Change in Europe and North America , Tilburg 1994 (European Values Studies, 1)
- Halman, Loek / Luijkx, Ruud / Zundert, Marga van, Atlas of European Values , Tilburg 2005 (European Values Studies, 8).