Presentation of the topics and the authors
This module illustrates through examples how corrections for measurement errors can be made very simply when analysing survey data. The module also illustrates how large differences there can be between the results of the analyses with and without correction for measurement errors. The module has been written by Anna de Castellarnau and Willem Saris. Anna de Castellarnau is a researcher at the Research and Expertise Centre for Survey Methodology (RECSM) at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. She is currently involved in the coordination and maintenance of the tool Survey Quality Predictor (SQP) 2.0. Willem Saris is Professor Emeritus at the University of Amsterdam and Visiting Professor at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. In 2009, he received the Helen Dineman Award for his lifelong contribution to the methodology of Opinion Research, mainly focusing on the estimation and correction of measurement errors in survey research. In 2014, the members of the SQP team received the Warren J. Mitofsky Innovators Award for the development of the program SQP, which predicts the quality of survey questions. This information plays an important role in the procedures that will be suggested in this module for the correction of measurement errors.
Multilevel analysis has become popular in many fields of social research. This module starts with a basic introduction to OLS regression, and then continues with the more advanced technique of multilevel analysis. The author of Learning Multilevel Analysis is Kristen Ringdal, who is professor of Sociology at NTNU (the Norwegian University of Science and Technology). Ringdal has been the national coordinator for the ESS in Norway since 2001.
This EduNet module was written by Bart Meuleman, who is professor at the Centre for Sociological Research, University of Leuven. Meuleman teaches research methodology and has published various journal articles on European attitudes toward immigration. In this module, he provides an example of how the ESS can be used as an instrument for measuring attitude changes in Europe. For this purpose, data from ESS rounds 1 to 3 have been combined.
Weighting in the ESS was written by Dr Matthias Ganninger. Ganninger is a researcher at GESIS, Mannheim, Germany. His current research areas include methods of survey sampling, design effects in complex surveys and small area estimation. He is also a member of the Sampling Expert Panel of the ESS, and is thus better informed than most people about the weights used in the ESS survey.
‘Personal & Social Well-being: Creating indicators for a flourishing Europe’ is written by Saamah Abdallah. Abdallah is a researcher at the new economics foundation (nef), an independent ‘think and do’ tank. nef’s leading aim is to create a new economy that serves people and the planet. Abdallah is working on the development of tools and analysis of data measuring well-being. This topic investigates different aspect of the concept of well-being using data from the third round of the ESS survey.
‘Family, Gender and Work’ is written by Noah Lewin-Epstein and Haya Stier from Tel Aviv University. They provide a prism for utilising the European Social Survey data in comparative analysis and then use this prism to discuss some of the most pertinent issues relating to the family-work nexus. Noah Lewin-Epstein is Professor of Sociology at Tel-Aviv University and Dean of the Faculty of Social Science. His areas of interest include social inequality, sociology of work and comparative survey research. Haya Stier is Associate professor in Sociology and Labour Studies at Tel Aviv University. Her areas of interests include work and family, social inequality, welfare and poverty, and demography of the family.
‘Analysing cross sectional survey data using linear regression methods: A ‘hands on’ introduction using ESS data’ is by Associate Professor Odd Gåsdal of the Department of Sociology at the University of Bergen. He provides an introduction to some of the basic questions that are relevant when analysing cross sectional survey data using regression methods. Gåsdal has lectured for many years on quantitative research methods in the social sciences.
Human values is written by Professor Shalom Schwartz, from the Department of Psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He gives a brief introduction to his theory about human values, and he illustrates how values could be utilized both as dependent as well as independent variables. Schwartz has written more than 100 articles for professional journals, and he has presented his findings at numerous national, regional and international conferences. He has received more than two dozen research grants from various organizations to explore the link between values and behavior. Schwartz is a fellow of the American Psychological Foundation and is a member of the American Sociological Foundation, European Association of Experimental Social Psychology, Israel Psychological Association, Society for Experimental Social Psychology, and Society for Personality and Social Psychology. He has also been president of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology 2004-2006.
Social and Political Trust is written by Professor Kenneth Newton, from the Department of Politics at the University of Southampton. Two theories of the origin of social trust are presented and assessed, and the relationship between political and social trust is outlined. Newton has written and edited many books and articles on the following subjects: Comparative government and politics; the political impact of the mass media; citizenship and political participation in Europe. Newton has been Executive Director of the European Consortium for Political Research (1989-2000), and he has been member of the Executive Committee of the International Political Science Association (1985-91) and the Political Studies Association of the UK (1979-92).