EU surveys and opinion polls

Teacher(s)

Rizzi Ester Lucia;

Language

French

Main themes

The course LDEMO2650 presents and compare the main European social surveys and pools used to measure public opinion: their aims, topics, types of variables, results and other characteristics (sample design, mode of questionnaire administration, questionnaire tests, and sample nonresponse).
To better understand surveys characteristics, data will be analysed by focusing on a specific socio-demographic topic (for example, women work conditions, intentions to have a child, intergenerational ties, etc.) and by conducting some explorative analyses.

Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1.	choose the most appropriate EU survey to answer a specific research question ;
2.	harmonize socio-economic variables of different surveys ;
3.	conduct exploratory comparative analysis with EU surveys and to interpret results ;
4.	evaluate the quality of survey data.

Content

The course LDEMO2650 presents and compares the main European social surveys, together with pools used to measure public opinion: their aims, topics, types of variables, results and other characteristics (sample design, mode of questionnaire administration, questionnaire tests, and sample nonresponse).
To better understand surveys characteristics, data will be analysed by focusing on a specific socio-demographic topic (e.g., women work conditions, intentions to have a child, intergenerational ties, etc.) and by conducting some explorative analyses.
The content is the following:
[1] Main characteristics of European cross-sectional surveys and opinion polls (e.g. ESS, EVS, HBS, Health Survey, Eurobarometer)
[2] Main characteristics of European longitudinal and panel surveys (e.g. GGP, EU-SILC, SOEP, SHP)  
[3] Harmonized socio-economic variables
[4] Comparability of European and non-European surveys
[5] Evaluation of the quality of data
At the end of the course the student will be able:
*To choose the most appropriate EU survey to answer a specific research question
*To harmonize socio-economic variables of different surveys
*To conduct exploratory comparative analyses with EU surveys and to interpret results
*To evaluate the quality of survey data

Teaching methods

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the information in this section is particularly likely to change.

Each survey presentation is followed by explorative analyses of the data set, assignements (for individuals or small groups) and feedbacks. 

Evaluation methods

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the information in this section is particularly likely to change.

The course is based on a continous assesment through individual or group works (40% of the final grade) and on a final dissertation (60% of the final grade). In the evaluation of the works, the process is more important than the answer. For the final dissertation, the student answers a research question taking data from two surveys presented at the course. Works are evaluated on the base of clarity and quality of the analysis.

Other information

The basic knowledge of the statistical software Stata is recommended.

COVID-19:
In yellow code, the auditorium is large enough to accommodate all the students in person. However, if the number of students is larger than expected or if the orange code is applied, then the teaching will switch to a comodal format (half of the cohort in the classroom, the other half in distance learning, alternately from one week to the next).
Regardless of the teaching mode, the evaluation mode remains the same. Classroom exercises are adapted to sanitation rules.

Bibliography

Bibliography available at each session depending on the theme.

Faculty or entity

PSAD