Eurobarometer Survey Series

collection: series

Investigator(s): European Commission

About this Collection

The Standard and Special Eurobarometer surveys are the products of a unique program of cross-national and cross-temporal survey research. The effort began in early 1970, when the Commission of the European Communities sponsored simultaneous surveys of the publics of the European Communities. Three pilot studies were conducted in 1970, 1971 and 1973 under the header of European Communities Studies. Starting with 1974, regular Eurobarometer are carried out in spring and fall of each year.

The standard Eurobarometer surveys are designed to provide a regular monitoring of the social and political attitudes among the European publics, to obtain regular readings of support for European integration, public awareness of and attitudes toward European unification, the institutions of the European Communities, as of 1992 the European Union, and its policies in complementary fashion. Attitudes towards the organization and role of the European Parliament and electoral behavior became a major topic in pre- and post- European Elections times, until in 2011 the European Parliament took responsibility for an own survey module ("Parlemeter"). The standard program was complemented by measures of general socio-political orientations, of subjective satisfaction and the perceived quality of life, or of cultural, national and European identities.

Intermittently Eurobarometer surveys have investigated special topics, such as agriculture, biotechnology, energy, environment, family planning, gender roles, health related issues, immigration, poverty and social exclusion, regional identity, science and technology, information society, working conditions, urban traffic, knowledge of languages etc. In the case of some supplementary studies, special youth and elderly samples have been drawn. Starting with Eurobarometer 34 (1990) additional supplementary surveys on special issues are conducted under each wave.

Eurobarometer regularly include all member countries, starting with the six founder members and in accordance with the enlargement process. Norway has been un-officially included in selected waves between 1989 (EB 34) and 1996 (EB 46), Finland started before the actual enlargement in 1993 (EB 39.0), and a few Swiss Eurobarometer surveys were run in parallel to selected waves or topics, starting in 1999 (EB 51.1). Candidate and Accession Countries for the Eastern enlargement process were surveyed in the Candidate Countries Eurobarometer (CCEB) series from 2001 until the 2004 enlargement. From Autumn 2004 (EB 62) onwards the official membership candidates are at the time included in the standard surveys, as in the cases of Croatia, Turkey, Macedonia, Iceland, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania. Additional samples are drawn for Great Britain and Northern Ireland almost from the start, in Germany (East and West) after the re-unification in 1989, and in Cyprus for the Turkish Cypriot Community (Northern Cyprus) for selected surveys since 2004.

The surveys are conducted by affiliate international networks of survey research institutes on behalf of the European Commission's Directorate-General Communication. Beginning with Eurobarometer 43, the archival survey titles in this ICPSR series no longer contain a hyphen separating "Euro" and "Barometer," in keeping with current usage. Other archives may follow different naming.

Studies

14 results

Euro-barometer 29: Environmental Problems and Cancer, March-April 1988

The major focuses of this Euro-Barometer survey are the environment and personal health. Opinions were sought on environmental issues such as nuclear accidents and radioactivity, pollution, and conservation of natural resources, as well as on the activities surrounding the European Year of the Environment. Health-related issues focused on cancer: smoking, knowledge and views regarding the causes of cancer, the extent of its occurrence in society, and medical recommendations for its early detection and prevention. Respondents were also asked if they had undergone medical examinations to screen for cancer. Women were questioned about specific kinds of cancer detection examinations as well. Other health-related items concerned dietary regimens and sports activities. In addition, respondents were asked about political party preferences, life satisfaction, views on national goals and national achievements, and attitudes toward the Economic Community and its policies, especially the Economic Community's Common Agricultural Policy, the European Parliament, the creation of the single common market in 1992, and use of daylight savings time. The data include demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic information on respondents.

Euro-Barometer 30: Immigrants and Out-Groups in Western Europe, October-November 1988

This round of Euro-Barometer surveys investigated life satisfaction, union membership, smoking habits, knowledge and views regarding cancer, views on the importance of NATO and certain national problems, attitudes toward democracy and individual liberties, attitudes toward immigrants and out-groups (i.e., people of another nationality, race, religion, culture, or social class), and knowledge of and attitudes toward European Community institutions and policies, including the Common Agricultural Policy and the creation of a single European market in 1992. Respondents also were asked to name current topics and events most important for them and to state whether or not certain causes such as the protection of wildlife and the promotion of world peace were worth taking risks and making sacrifices for. Questions on political party preferences asked respondents which party they felt the closest to, how they voted in their country's last general election, how they would vote if a general election were held tomorrow, and how they planned to vote in the June 1989 elections for the European Parliament. The survey also gauged respondents' perceptions of the general attitude of each country's political parties toward the European Community. The inquiry into out-groups asked respondents to identify groups that came to mind when they thought of people of another nationality, race, religion, culture, or social class. Respondents were asked if they counted any out-group members among their friends and if any of these persons worked at their place of employment or lived in their neighborhood. Additional questions asked respondents if they were disturbed by the presence of these out-groups and if they thought that these groups exploited social welfare benefits, increased unemployment, contributed to delinquency and violence, affected property prices, or reduced the level of education in schools. In West Germany, France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands, respondents were queried about their attitudes and feelings toward specific out-groups: Southern Europeans, North Africans, Turks, Black Africans, Asians, Southeast Asians, West Indians, Jews, Surinamers, and Northern Europeans. The section on cancer queried respondents about their knowledge of the causes of cancer and medical recommendations for its early detection and prevention, and asked respondents if they followed or intended to follow those recommendations. Additional information gathered includes family income, home ownership, number of persons and children under 15 residing in the home, size of locality, region of residence, occupation of the head of household, and the respondent's age, sex, occupation, education, religion, religiosity, subjective social class standing, and left-right political self-placement.

Euro-Barometer 31: European Elections, 1989: Pre-Election Survey, March-April 1989

This round of Euro-Barometer surveys had for its major focus issues surrounding the European elections. Questions on political party preferences asked respondents which party they felt the closest to, how they voted in their country's last general election, how they would vote if a general election were held tomorrow, which party they would vote for within their countries, how they planned to vote in the June 1989 elections for the European Parliament, how they viewed the importance of certain national problems, and what they thought about democracy and individual liberties. Respondents were asked about their usage of the media for news, their opinions of an "All Europe" television channel and what it should offer, and how the single European market planned for in 1992 would affect their lives. The survey also gauged respondents' perceptions of the general attitude of their countries' political parties toward the most important problems facing their nations. Other items included life satisfaction, union membership, smoking habits, views on environmental issues such as nuclear accidents and radioactivity, views regarding cancer, and knowledge of and attitudes toward European Community institutions and policies, including the Common Agricultural Policy. Respondents also were asked to name current topics and events most important for them and to state whether or not certain causes such as the promotion of world peace were worth taking risks and making sacrifices for. The section on cancer queried respondents about their knowledge of the causes of cancer and medical recommendations for its early detection and prevention, and asked respondents if they followed or intended to follow those recommendations. Women were questioned about specific kinds of cancer detection examinations as well. Additional information was gathered on family income, number of persons and children under 15 residing in the home, size of locality, region of residence, occupation of the head of household, and the respondent's age, sex, occupation, education, religion, religiosity, subjective social class standing, and left-right political self-placement.
Back to top