About ESDS International

ESDS International disseminates and supports both aggregate and survey international datasets for UK FE and HE. The service is jointly run by Mimas at Manchester and the UK Data Archive at Essex and provides:

• free web-based access to regularly updated international aggregate (macro) datasets
• help for users in locating and acquiring international survey (micro) data from other archives
• a dedicated help desk
• comprehensive support materials for macro datasets and teaching and learning resources
• introductory courses to raise awareness of international datasets and their research potential and an annual conference on issues relating to international data research.

On the international agenda... World Religion Day, 15 January 2012

15 January 2012 marks the 61st World Religion Day. ESDS International provides a good source of comparative information regarding the importance of religion in people's everyday lives.

Survey questions cover the role of religion during childhood; frequency of regular religious services attendance; frequency of prayers and participation in religious activities; existence of religious objects in the home; frequency of visiting a holy place (shrine, temple, church or mosque) for religious reasons except regular religious services; self-classification of personal religiousness and spirituality; truth in one or in all religions; and attitudes towards the profits of practicing a religion (finding inner peace and happiness, making friends, gaining comfort in times of trouble and sorrow, meeting the right kind of people).

The World Values Survey, for example, reveals the extent to which people believe religion is important to them. In 36 out of 56 surveyed countries religion is 'very or rather important' to the majority of its people - regardless of the type of faith they believe in. In almost a quarter of the countries almost the entire population emphasises the prominence of religion (see graph below). At the lower end of the spectrum are Japan and China with about 20 per cent agreeing to religion being important compared to 100 per cent agreeing in Egypt and Jordan.

Data source: 2005-2008 World Values Survey

Other relevant international micro datasets for comparative research questions related to religion are the: Eurobarometer survey series; Central- and Eastern Eurobarometers; European Values Study; Religion and Citizenship and other surveys as part of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP); and the Wellbeing in Developing Countries study.

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