Cross-National Surveys of Public Opinion

by

Roberto Foa

• LAST MODIFIED: 19 February 2025
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756223-0377

Introduction

In a cross-national survey, a single questionnaire is used to poll respondents across multiple countries, allowing for the comparison of societies with respect to fundamental social science issues such as happiness, social trust, or attitudes to democracy. The first repeat cross-national public opinion study was the Eurobarometer survey of 1973, followed by the European and World Values Surveys in 1981, the International Social Survey Programme in 1984, and the initial members of the Global Barometer Surveys in the 1990s. Today there are more than fifteen major academic cross-national survey projects, together with a wide range of comparative surveys that are supported by private foundations and polling companies, such as IPSOS, YouGov, or Gallup. Each of these projects offers a unique contribution to social science knowledge. The World Values Survey, for example, contains a core set of items stretching back to 1981, making it a reference point for scholars investigating long-term value change. The International Social Survey Programme is notable for the comprehensiveness and depth of its annual modules, while the European Social Survey has distinguished itself through the rigor of its methodology. The Global Barometer Surveys are notable for the breadth of their country coverage across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, while the Pew Global Attitudes Project remains the primary resource for scholars seeking to examine US foreign policy issues and opinions. Finally, the Gallup World Poll holds the lead in its country coverage, and has recently made moves toward wider public access to its data. As a result of such initiatives, researchers have discovered important differences in societal values, well-being, and attitudes across the world. For example, levels of reported happiness have been found to correlate with initial gains in economic development, while in recent decades, many societies have recorded increases in socially liberal values as well as declining rates of religious belief. At the same time, the global spread of cross-country polling has brought novel methodological challenges. These include difficulties ensuring the accuracy of translation in new cultural contexts, in reconciling different modes of fieldwork, upholding representative sampling, and verifying data quality in countries that lack an established polling industry. In response to such concerns, scholars are continuously developing new methods and techniques to improve fieldwork integrity, such as the use of computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI), more rigorous auditing of translations and data, and better protocols for implementing probability samples.

History of Cross-National Surveys of Public Opinion

Though the World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) was founded in 1947, for many years its members conducted single-country studies. Modern cross-national polling began in earnest in the 1960s, when in 1962 the EEC (European Economic Community) commissioned the “Attitudes to Europe” survey of Germany, France, and the Benelux counties. Under the leadership of Jacques-René Rabier, this became the Eurobarometer project, which has been repeated at regular intervals across the continent since the 1970s. Another group of European researchers (the European Value Systems Study Group) was formed in the late 1970s on the initiative of Jan Kerkhofs and Ruud de Moor. This became the kernel for the 1981 World Values Survey (WVS), which under the leadership of Ronald Inglehart, was expanded to reach almost a hundred participating states and territories. The 1980s also saw the foundation of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), a survey that has now covered fifty-eight countries. During the 1990s, cross-national public opinion work expanded further, via a range of additional projects such as the Comparative National Elections Project founded by Richard Gunther, the New Democracies Barometer founded by Richard Rose and Christian Haerpfer in 1991, the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) founded by Steven Rosenstone in 1994, and the Latinobarometer founded by Marta Lagos in 1995. With the turn of the new millennium survey research continued to extend its global reach, for example via the launch of the Afrobarometer, Asian Barometer, and Arab Barometer projects, and their joint federation in 2004 to form the Global Barometer Surveys. The 2000s also saw other new survey initiatives, such as the methodologically rigorous European Social Survey (ESS), launched by Max Kaase and Roger Jowell in 2002, and the AmericasBarometer, which covers not only Latin America but also Canada, the United States, and much of the Caribbean. In addition to academic projects, the latest phase of cross-country polling has also included notable initiatives by foundations and private polling companies. The largest of these is the Gallup World Poll (GWP), conducted annually since 2005 on behalf of the American polling company Gallup, which now covers more than 160 countries. Another major entrant is the Pew Research Center, supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts, which since 2002 has conducted an annual global poll on foreign policy and international relations issues.

• Almond, Gabriel, and Sidney Verba. The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963.

  DOI: 10.1515/9781400874569

  One of the earliest cross-national studies of public opinion, Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba’s The Civic Culture is a classic of comparative political science.

• Harkness, Janet A., Michael Braun, Brad Edwards, et al. eds. Survey Methods in Multinational, Multiregional, and Multicultural Contexts. Chichester, UK, and Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2010.

  This book offers one of the best general overviews on cross-national survey research. It covers essential methodological concerns such as survey design, item translation, sampling strategy, and quality assurance. Also included is a brief history of cross-national research, together with specific chapters that cover the International Social Survey Programme and the Gallup World Poll.

• Heath, Anthony, Stephen Fisher, and Shawna Smith. “The Globalization of Public Opinion Research.” Annual Review of Political Science 8 (2005): 297–333.

  DOI: 10.1146/annurev.polisci.8.090203.103000

  This article provides a good review of the history of international opinion polling that covers major projects such as the World Values Survey, International Social Survey Programme, and the European Social Survey. Also includes an overview of the methodological challenges faced by early endeavors to implement cross-national surveys, and suggestions regarding how they might be overcome.

• Jowell, Roger, Caroline Roberts, Rory Fitzgerald, and Gillian Eva, eds. Measuring Attitudes Cross-Nationally: Lessons from the European Social Survey. London: SAGE, 2007.

  Draws lessons from a single cross-national survey project, the European Social Survey, in order to discuss guidelines for best practice within the field. These include transparency, rigorous probability sample designs, and the collection of data on nonresponse bias and other measurement errors.

• Lagos, Marta. “International Comparative Surveys: Their Purpose, Content and Methodological Challenges.” In The SAGE Handbook of Public Opinion Research. Edited by Wolfgang Donsbach and Michael W. Traugott, 580–593. London: SAGE, 2008.

  DOI: 10.4135/9781848607910.n55

  An overview of international public opinion research that includes a good background to the various comparative survey projects. The chapter also touches on some of the unique challenges facing cross-national work, such as translation, scale equivalence, cultural differences, and limitations to the scope of research findings.

• Lagos, Marta, and Yun-han Chu. “Globalized Public Opinion Data: International Comparative Surveys and Regional Barometers.” In The Routledge Handbook of International Organization. Edited by Bob Reinalda, 80–93. London: Routledge, 2013.

  An excellent project-by-project overview of the cross-national polling landscape, written by the founders of the Latinobarometer and the Asian Barometer surveys.

• Radvanyi, Laszlo. “Introducing the International Journal of Opinion and Attitude Research.” International Journal of Opinion and Attitude Research 1 (1947): 1–2.

  A founding article for the field, Laszlo Radvanyi’s introduction to the official publication of the World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) called for an international effort to conduct cross-national international surveys.

• Worcester, Robert M. “The Internationalization of Public Opinion Research.” Public Opinion Quarterly 51 (1987): 79–85.

  DOI: 10.1093/poq/51.4_PART_2.S79

  A short review article that covers the early history of cross-country surveys. The article includes a helpful summary of early cross-national polling by George Gallup, as well as an extended section on the development of public opinion research in the Communist countries of Eastern Europe.