European Social Survey (ESS ERIC)
The European Social Survey (ESS ERIC) is a researcher-led, cross-national survey that has been conducted every other year in a number of European countries since 2002, including Norway. Sveinung Arnesen, Associate Professor at the Department of Government, University of Bergen, is the National Coordinator for the ESS in Norway.
About
The European Social Survey (ESS) (external link)measures attitudes, perceptions, and behavioral patterns in over 30 European countries. This provides access to comparative data on social conditions, values, and political attitudes. The survey aims to map stability and changes in social structures across Europe. ESS is conducted every two years and has included a total of 40 participating countries in its data collection.
All data are available for non-commercial use via the ESS Data Portal and have so far resulted in over 6,585 academic publications. With more than 230,000 registered users, of whom over 65% are students (figures from 2023), ESS is an important resource for academics, the media, businesses, and governments. Sikt (external link)serves as the data archive for ESS, contributing to the curation, dissemination, and archiving of the data.
ESS was granted the status of European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) in 2013.
The Norwegian ESS Coordination Team
ESS Norway is coordinated by the Department of Government at the University of Bergen and consists of:
- Sveinung Arnesen, National Coordinator for ESS in Norway
- Erla Katrine Løvseth, Research Coordinator
- Alexander Verdoes, Researcher
- Gjøri Marie Haugen, Research Assistant
The team is responsible for data collection, quality assurance, and dissemination of ESS in Norway.
- Dissemination of ESS data and ESS Notes (in Norwegian)
- Learn to use ESS data through short introductory videos (in Norwegian)
- Topics, modules, and methodology in the ESS
- Organisation of the ESS in Norway and Europe
- Read more about what’s happening in ESS Norway
- Read more about the ESS on the official ESS website
The main objectives of the ESS ERIC are to:
- Map stability and changes in social structures, living conditions, and attitudes in Europe, and understand how Europe’s social, political, and moral systems are evolving.
- Implement and promote high standards that will elevate comparative social research to a higher scientific level, for example regarding questionnaire design and testing, sampling techniques, data collection, reduction of error sources, and strengthening the reliability of questions.
- Introduce well-considered indicators of national development based on citizens’ own experiences and assessments of important societal conditions.
- Contribute to and support the education of European social researchers in comparative quantitative measurement and analysis.
- Increase the visibility and dissemination of data on social change among researchers, policymakers, and other interested parties.
People
The Norwegian ESS Coordination Team
Sveinung Arnesen National Coordinato for ESS in Norway
Erla Katrine Løvseth Research Coordinator
Alexander Verdoes Researcher
Gjøri Marie Haugen Research Assistant
Contact
Questions about ESS Norway can be sendt to Sveinung Arnesen who is Norways National Coordinator.
- Phone number
- +47 55582558
- Emails
- sveinung.arnesen@uib.no
