Présentation générale de la base de données du European Value Survey

Initiated in the late 1970’s, the European Values Study is a large-scale, cross-national, and longitudinal survey research program on basic human values aiming at exploring the moral and social values underlying European social and political institutions and governing conduct. After a first survey in 1981, the interest raised by the project led to the constitution of a unique data set, covering 26 countries.
To explore the dynamics of values changes, a second (1990 ) and a third wave (1999/2000) were launched, together with fieldwork in almost all European countries. At the moment the European Values Study is preparing its fourth wave (2008). Similar questions to the earlier waves will be repeated in all European countries, making it possible to carry out longitudinal analyses for a period of almost thirty years.
By now, a rich academic literature (see www.europeanvalues.nl for an overview) has been created around the original and consecutive surveys and numerous other works have made use of the findings. An attractive presentation of the results of the third wave of the European Values Study is contained in the Atlas of European Values (Halman, Luijkx and Van Zundert, 2005). This atlas unlocks the scientific results of the European Values Study for the general public by presenting the values, norms, beliefs, attitudes, and opinions of Europeans at the turn of the millennium and reveals the unity and diversity of value patterns in Europe at a glance.
The official data files and documentation (questionnaires, methodological information, technical information, etc.) are available for consultation and analysis on line from ZACAT (http://zacat.gesis.org/webview/index.jsp), the social science data portal from ZA.