International Social Survey Programme

The International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) is an international collaborative programme that conducts an annual survey featuring questions related to various areas within the social sciences. ISSP was founded in 1984 by Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and today more than 40 countries are members. The surveys are designed to enable comparative studies across countries as well as analyses of changes over time. The data and accompanying documentation from the surveys are published with open access. In order to adapt the survey to changes occurring in societies and within the social sciences, new questions or new modules are regularly included in the questionnaire.

Access to data

ISSP data are stored at GESIS – Department of Survey Data Curation (SDC), which is also responsible for harmonising and integrating the national datasets. The archive additionally provides documentation and user support for external users.

GESIS offers search tools and extensive information on modules, metadata, and data access. Useful resources available on the GESIS ISSP web pages include:

• A table of participating countries by module
• A list of all available ISSP datasets
• Guidelines on how to cite ISSP data

Since 1985, ISSP has produced datasets on an annual basis. To ensure the highest standards of data quality, ISSP carries out extensive study checks and publishes detailed information on how the national ISSP surveys are conducted in each participating country. All collected data and all study-related documentation are published with open access.

Topics in the ISSP surveys

ISSP was founded with the aim of conducting survey research on topics that are relevant to the social sciences. New questions and topics are regularly included in the surveys in order to reflect ongoing developments in society and the wider world. The most recent additions are the modules Health and Health Care (2011) and Digital Societies, which was selected as the ISSP module for 2024.

The topics covered within each module vary from one survey cycle to the next. At the annual meeting, ISSP members vote democratically on the thematic focus of the upcoming module. This decision then serves as guidance for the group responsible for developing the questionnaire.

The following topics are included in one or more waves of the ISSP:

* Merged module on National Identity and Citizenship

Contact

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

National coordinator ISSP Sweden

Jonas Edlund, Professor at the Department of Sociology, Umeå University

E-mail: jonas.edlund@umu.se

National coordinator ISSP Sweden

Ida Öun, Docent and Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology, Umeå university

E-mail: ida.oun@umu.se