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Title:
Euro-Barometer 12: European Parliamentary Elections, October-November, 1979

Series: (Eurobarometer Survey Series)

Subject Categories:
International micro data - Major studies
Election and campaign studies - Politics
Political behaviour and attitudes - Politics
Social attitudes and behaviour - Society and culture

Depositor(s):
Zentralarchiv fuer Empirische Sozialforschung (Koeln)

Principal Investigator(s):
Rabier, J.R.
Inglehart, R.

Sponsor(s):
Commission of the European Communities

Other Acknowledgements:
Interviewing and sampling were conducted by various organisations operating in the European Union. For further details see documentation.

Abstract:
The Eurobarometer (EB) survey series is a unique programme of cross-national and cross-temporal comparative social science research. Since the early seventies representative national samples in all European Union (EU) (formerly the European Community (EC)) member states have been simultaneously interviewed in the spring and autumn of each year. Starting with EB 34.1 (autumn 1990), separate supplementary surveys on special issues have been conducted under almost every EB number. The EB is designed to provide regular monitoring of public social and political attitudes in the EU through specific trend questions. More information about the series may be found on the Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Data Archive for the Social Sciences (GESIS) Eurobarometer Survey Series web pages. GESIS was formed in 2007 when three independent institutes merged (Social Science Information Centre (IZ) in Bonn, Central Archive for Empirical Social Research in Cologne (ZA), and Centre for Survey Research and Methodology (ZUMA) in Mannheim). Users should note that earlier EBs were deposited by ZA but are available now from GESIS.

Background
Work on European survey series began in early 1970, when the Commission of the European Community sponsored simultaneous surveys of the EC. These surveys were designed to measure public awareness of, and attitudes toward, the Common Market and other EC institutions, in complementary fashion. They also probed the goals given top priority for each respondent's nation. These concerns have remained a central part of the EC's research efforts - which were carried forward in the summer of 1971 with another six-nation survey that gave special attention to agricultural problems. The nine EC member countries were then surveyed again on the same topic areas in September 1973. After 1973, the surveys took on a somewhat broader scope in content as well as in geographical coverage, with measures of subjective satisfaction and the perceived quality of life becoming standard features of the EC public opinion surveys.

Over time, the member states of the EC/EU have increased in number, and the coverage of the EB surveys has widened accordingly. In 1974, nine countries were surveyed: France, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland and Luxembourg. Greece has been included since the autumn 1980 survey (EB 14) onwards, Portugal and Spain since autumn 1985 (EB 24), the former German Democratic Republic since autumn 1990 (EB 34), Finland since the spring of 1993 (EB 39), and Sweden and Austria since the autumn of 1994 (EB 42). Norway has been included in some surveys since 1991, from EB 36 onwards. In 2004, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joined the EU, and in 2007, Bulgaria and Romania (some of these countries participated in the Candidate Countries Eurobarometer survey series (see under GN 33343) before full accession). Canditate countries of Macedonia and Iceland have also been included in selected surveys. Some surveys are also conducted in Turkey, and in the Turkish Cypriot Community (Northern Cyprus).

The Eurobarometer public opinion surveys are conducted on behalf of and co-ordinated by the European Commission, DG Press and Communication - Opinion Polls Sector (European Commission Public Opinion Analysis). Special topic modules are carried out at the request of the responsible EU Directorate General.

This round of EB surveys queried respondents on standard EB measures, such as how satisfied they were with their present life, whether they attempted to persuade others close to them to share their views on subjects they held strong opinions about, whether they discussed political matters, what their country's goals should be for the next ten years, and how they viewed the need for societal change. Additional questions focused on the respondents' knowledge of and opinions on the European Community (EC), including how well-informed they felt about the EC, what sources of information about the EC they used, whether their country had benefited from being an EC member, and the extent of their personal interest in EC matters. Another major focus of the surveys was on attitudes toward the institutions of the European Community in the wake of the European Parliamentary elections held on June 10-12, 1979. Respondents were asked how they voted in the elections. Their expectations of the elected Parliaments and of the future of the Common Market were explored by extending the set of questions that had been asked throughout the EB series on European integration and the respondents' political and party predispositions, as well as their interests in various political issues. Respondents were also asked about their satisfaction with their own national political systems. Standard demographic information collected includes respondents' religion, education, occupation, marital status, age and sex, as well as the occupation of the head of household and the composition of the household. In addition to the survey itself, the ICPSR version of the study contains constructed indices on materialist/post-materialist values, left-right partisan vote, European Parliament partisan vote, and cognitive mobilization index (an indicator of an individual's potential to take an active role in the political process). Euro-Barometer 12: European Parliamentary Elections, October-November, 1979 contains data gathered from representative samples of respondents aged 15 or older interviewed in each of the nine nations of the EC (Germany, Great Britain, Denmark, Italy, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, and the Netherlands) in October-November 1979.

Main Topics:
The special topic in this round was attitudes towards the European Parliament and the European Election (post-election).

Coverage:
Dates of Fieldwork: October 1979-November 1979
Country: Belgium; Denmark; France; German Federal Republic; Great Britain; Ireland; Italy; Luxembourg; Netherlands; Northern Ireland
Spatial Units: Countries
Observation Units: Individuals

Universe Sampled:
Location of Units of Observation:Cross-national; National
Population:Adults aged 15 and over living in the countries of the European Community

Methodology:
Time Dimensions: Repeated cross-sectional study
Sampling Procedures: The sampling designs were either multi-stage national probability samples or national stratified quota samples.
Method of Data Collection: Face-to-face interview
Weighting: Weighting used. See documentation for details

Language(s) of Written Materials:
Study Description: English
Study Documentation: Various

Access:
Access Conditions: The depositor has specified that registration is required and standard conditions of use apply. The depositor may be informed about usage. See terms and conditions for further information.
Available to UK residents or those registered at UK institutions of higher or further education only.
Availability: ESDS International, UK Data Archive
Contact: Help desk: international@esds.ac.uk
Originating Archive: Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences. Data Archive for the Social Sciences - Original Study Number: 1037
Please Note: A large selection of Eurobarometer Survey Series datasets, including standard Eurobarometers, Central and Eastern Eurobarometers and Candidate Countries Eurobarometers, are available to browse, analyse and download online via GESIS's ZACAT service. Access is free of charge and requires separate online registration, including agreement to terms and conditions of use of the data. The data are available for scientific purposes only.

Date of Release:
First Edition: 12 July 1991
Latest Edition: 25 September 1991 ( 2nd Edition )

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