Conferences

ESRA2009:

Conference main page

Overview of sessions

Time table

Warsaw 2009: Presentations and short courses

Comparing Social Survey Data in a Global Perspective. The cases of the CSES and the ISSP.

Session: Comparing Social Survey Data in a Global Perspective. The cases of the CSES and the ISSP.

Authors:

Knut Kalgraff Skjåk; Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD), Norway
Jessica Fortin; GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Germany

Abstract:

The Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) (www.cses.org) and International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) (www.issp.org) are well-established international research projects covering more than 40 countries around the world. While the studies are independent efforts both thematically and in governance, they face shared methodological challenges that are also common to other comparative research projects. In particular, the credibility of scholarly output from such research programmes relies on the ability of the data to facilitate comparison across many countries and cultures. One key requirement in ensuring quality of comparison is providing special attention to equivalence of concepts and measures. This introductory presentation will provide an overview of both the CSES and the ISSP, introduce some of the challenges that the project face in ensuring quality of comparison, and share their current approaches to the issues.