Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The European Values Study (EVS) and World Values Survey (WVS) series were designed to enable a cross-national, cross-cultural comparison of values and norms on a wide variety of topics and to monitor changes in values and attitudes across the globe. The EVS/WVS provides data from representative national surveys in 97 societies containing almost 90 per cent of the world's population. These surveys show pervasive changes in what people want out of life and what they believe. In order to monitor these changes, the EVS/WVS has executed five waves of surveys, from 1981 to 2007. Representative national samples of each society's public are interviewed, using a standardised questionnaire that covers a full range of social, economic, cultural and religious topic areas. The countries included in these surveys cover the full range from very poor countries to very rich ones, from authoritarian systems to liberal democracies and covering all major cultural zones. Further information about the each survey series can be found on the EVS and WVS web sites.
Background to the European Values Studies The European Values Study (EVS) is a large-scale, cross-national and longitudinal survey of moral, religious, political and social values. The project was designed to investigate the nature and inter-relationship of value systems, their degree of homogeneity, and the extent to which they are subject to change across time. To date there have been 3 waves, the first carried out in 1981, the second in 1990 and the third in 1999/2000. The 1981 survey was carried out in ten member states of the European Community. After the initial fieldwork the survey was carried out in a further 16 countires (Argentina, Australia, Chile, Canada, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Japan, Malta, Mexico, Norway, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, United States and parts of the Soviet Union). The 1990 survey was carried out in all European countries as well as the United States and Canada.The third EVS was carried out in Europe. Further information can be found on the EVS web pages Northern Ireland European Values Survey, 1999 The aim of this study was the inclusion of Northern Ireland as a fully participant member of the 1999 European Values Study (EVS). The survey was carried out by means of face-to-face interviews with a sample of 1000 randomly-selected adults, representative of the adult population of Northern Ireland. The study was based on an adapted version of the 1999 wave of the EVS, which has now been completed in most countries of western and eastern Europe, including the Republic of Ireland. As in previous EVS studies, the core questions focus on values and attitudes in areas such as religion, ethics, politics, work motivation, family and life-style. In addition to these core elements, however, the Northern Ireland survey also included and additional range of items on aspects of culture and identity peculiar to the island of Ireland. For example, respondents in this survey and the Republic of Ireland EVS wave (not currently held at the UK Data Archive) were questioned about their views on various aspects of the Good Friday Agreement and about their attitudes to national identity. Special care was taken to ensure that these additional questions were relevant within and across the two societies. These data are also included in European and World Values Survey Four-wave Integrated Data File, 1981-2004, which is available for online analysis and download. Please see SN: 5488 for details.
Main Topics:
Topics covered include attitudes to work, religion, social groups, local communities, environmental protection, voluntary organisations, government, politics and democracy, family and friends, life satisfaction, human needs, marriage, children, concerns over the troubled situation in Northern Ireland, paramilitary violence, the Good Friday Agreement, political developments and devolved government and associated views on national identity. A range of demographic information was also collected. Standard Measures Previous EVS measures from the 1981 and 1990 studies on values and attitudes in areas such as religion, ethics, politics, work, motivation, family and life-style were used.
One-stage stratified or systematic random sample
Face-to-face interview
