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European Social Survey
The European Social Survey (ESS) is an academically driven cross-national survey that has been conducted across Europe since its establishment in 2001. Since then, the ESS has measured changes in social attitudes and behaviors in more than 30 countries. Using cutting-edge approaches to comparative research and training of researchers, it produces biennial data of pan-European relevance. The Netherlands has been involved in the ESS since its inception. The ESS has established itself as an indispensable infrastructure for comparative social and political research, being awarded European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) status in 2013.
Infrastructure and User Services
The European Social Survey (ESS) is a leading cross-national research infrastructure that collects high-quality, comparable data on the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of people across Europe. Conducted every two years since 2001, the ESS adheres to strict methodological standards, including random probability sampling and standardized face-to-face interviews (with increasing adoption of mixed-mode approaches). The survey includes a core questionnaire covering themes such as trust in institutions, democracy, well-being, and social cohesion, alongside rotating modules on timely topics like climate change and health inequalities.
The ESS produces harmonized datasets from over 30 countries, offering valuable resources for longitudinal and comparative research in the social sciences. These datasets, along with extensive documentation and metadata, are made openly available through the ESS Data Portal, hosted by the Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research (Sikt).
In addition to its data infrastructure, the ESS provides a comprehensive suite of services to users. These include free access to data, online analysis tools, interactive visualizations, and educational resources such as teaching modules and methodological guides. The ESS also supports academic and policy communities through training workshops, webinars, and active engagement in promoting data literacy.
By combining rigorous data collection with accessible services, the ESS enables researchers, educators, policymakers, and the public to explore and understand social change across Europe. It plays a key role in evidence-based policymaking, academic research, and civic education, making it a cornerstone of Europe’s social science research landscape.
Examples/description of the type of research
The European Social Survey (ESS) facilitates high-quality, cross-national and longitudinal research on the social, political, and cultural attitudes of Europeans. It supports a wide range of academic inquiry in fields such as sociology, political science, psychology, economics, and public health, offering reliable data to investigate how individuals think about democracy, trust, immigration, welfare, identity, and social inequality.
The ESS is particularly suited for comparative research across countries and regions, enabling scholars to analyze how different institutional, historical, and cultural contexts shape public opinion and behavior. Its strict methodological standards make it a gold standard for quantitative, cross-national analysis, while its repeated waves allow for the tracking of value change over time.
The ESS also plays a central role in policy-relevant research, helping governments and international bodies monitor social cohesion, legitimacy of democratic institutions, and public attitudes toward major challenges like climate change or digitalization. Its rotating modules ensure responsiveness to emerging societal concerns, such as attitudes towards migration, support for welfare redistribution, or personal and social wellbeing.
In addition, the ESS supports interdisciplinary and methodological innovation, including studies on survey design, measurement equivalence, and cross-cultural comparison. The open-access nature of its data facilitates secondary analysis, replication studies, and use in education and training.
Looking ahead, the ESS will continue to enable research that not only deepens our understanding of European societies but also informs evidence-based policymaking and fosters public dialogue on the values and challenges shaping Europe’s future.
How to access the infrastructure?
The European Social Survey (ESS) provides free and open access to its data for all users, including researchers, students, and policymakers. After a simple registration on the ESS website (www.europeansocialsurvey.org), users can download datasets, explore findings via online analysis tools, and access full documentation such as questionnaires and codebooks. The open-access model supports transparent, reproducible research and encourages wide use in both academic and applied contexts.