ESS round 4 - 2008. Welfare attitudes, Ageism

The European Social Survey (ESS) is an academically-driven multi-country survey, which has been administered in over 30 countries to date. Its three aims are, firstly - to monitor and interpret changing public attitudes and values within Europe and to investigate how they interact with Europe's changing institutions, secondly - to advance and consolidate improved methods of cross-national survey measurement in Europe and beyond, and thirdly - to develop a series of European social indicators, including attitudinal indicators.

In the fourth round, the survey covers 31 countries and employs the most rigorous methodologies. It is funded via the European Commission's 6th Framework Programme, the European Science Foundation, and national funding bodies in each country. It involves strict random probability sampling, a minimum target response rate of 70% and rigorous translation protocols. The hour-long face-to-face interview includes questions on a variety of core topics repeated from previous rounds of the survey and also two modules developed for Round Four covering Experiences and Expressions of Ageism and Welfare attitudes in a changing Europe.