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Title:
E-Living : Life in a Digital Europe : Waves 1-2, 2001-2002

Subject Categories:
Information technology - Media, communication and language
Social attitudes and behaviour - Society and culture

Depositor(s):
University of Essex. Chimera Institute for Socio-Technical Innovation and Research

Principal Investigator(s):
Anderson, B., University of Essex. Chimera Institute for Socio-Technical Innovation and Research
Brynin, M., University of Essex. Institute for Social and Economic Research
Raban, Y., University of Tel Aviv (Israel). ICTAF
Vicario, L., Legambiente (Italy)
Ling, R., Telenor (Norway)
Nokolov, R., Virtech Ltd (Sofia, Bulgaria)
Haisken-deNew, J.P., DIW (Berlin) / IZA (Bonn)

Data Collector(s):
BMRB International

Sponsor(s):
Commission of the European Union

Grant Number:
IST-2000-25409 (FP5 IST Programme)

Other Acknowledgements:
BMRB International conducted the fieldwork from their Ealing telephone centre in four countries and sub-contracted interviewing to partners in Bulgaria and Israel.

Abstract:
The most fundamental questions vexing current commercial and public strategists in the information society arena are questions that can only be answered by longitudinal studies that measure the same individuals at different points in time. Whilst cross-sectional surveys tell us about penetration and access, they cannot tell us about the effects that these patterns have on people's lives, nor can they distinguish between gross and net patterns of change. Without longitudinal analysis we simply cannot tell if acquiring internet access leads directly to improvement of life chances, to a reduction in the time spent watching television and/or to an increase in communication with distributed family members. Nor can we tell if the 40% of the EU population who were internet users in 2001 are the same as the 30% who were users in 2000 plus a new 10%, or are actually a completely new group of people due to massive churn rates in internet subscription.

To address this problem the E-Living project, launched on 1st January 2001, is in the process of creating a co-ordinated set of pan-European longitudinal household panels specifically to generate quantitative data on the uptake and usage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) over time. The emphasis on longitudinal study marks this project out from the increasing number of cross-sectional surveys carried out for commercial, academic and public policy reasons. More information can be found on the E-Living: Life in a Digital Europe web pages.

For the third edition, new data files were deposited. These included additional partner diary data for Israel for Wave 2 and some income corrections for both waves. The documentation has also been updated.
Main Topics:
The dataset contains survey data on the uptake and use of information and communication technologies in six European countries (Norway, UK, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and Israel) in 2001 and 2002, collected via Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI), as a two-wave household panel study. The survey collected data on mobile telephony, personal computer (pc) and internet uptake and use as well as a wide range of indicators of social capital, social networks, quality of life, working conditions and employment and educational experiences, as well as standard socio-demographics.

Coverage:
Dates of Fieldwork: Wave 1: October - November 2001;
Wave 2: October - November 2002
Country: United Kingdom; Norway; Germany (October 1990-); Italy; Bulgaria; Israel
Spatial Units: Countries; NUTS 3 regions
Observation Units: Individuals
Kind of Data: Textual data; Numeric data; Individual (micro) level

Universe Sampled:
Location of Units of Observation:Cross-national; National
Population:Wave 1: Adults in United Kingdom, Norway, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and Israel, during 2001; Wave 2: Individuals interviewed in Wave 1 plus their partners if present

Methodology:
Time Dimensions: Longitudinal/panel/cohort
Two waves
Sampling Procedures: List-assisted random digit dialling for all countries apart from Bulgaria, where a multi-stage stratified random sample design was used
Number of Units: Wave 1 - UK: target 4889, achieved 1760; Italy: target 4195, achieved 1762; Norway: target 4174, achieved 1756; Germany: target 5107, achieved 1753; Israel: target 4487, achieved 1753; Bulgaria: target 2219, achieved 1750.
Wave 2 (achieved) - UK: 1153; Italy: 1153; Norway: 1216; Germany: 1160; Israel: 1056; Bulgaria: 1458.
Partners (achieved) - UK: 377; Italy: 325; Norway: 443; Germany: 401; Israel: 313; Bulgaria: 899
Method of Data Collection: Face-to-face interview; Telephone interview
Weighting: Please see technical report in user guide for details of weighting procedures for each country. See READ file for advice on which weighting variables to use for data analysis.

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

Access:
Access Conditions: The depositor has specified that registration is required. Available to all registered users. The depositor may be informed about usage.
Availability: ESDS International, UK Data Archive
Contact: Help desk: international@esds.ac.uk

Date of Release:
First Edition: 30 September 2003
Latest Edition: 16 December 2004 ( 3rd Edition )

Copyright:
Copyright E-Living Project Consortium

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