Barometer surveys work on the Heineken's principle of reaching parts that official statistics do not reach, asking questions meaningful to people in more than a dozen languages. Barometer surveys reveal differences within society that are hidden in reports of national means. Surveys can measure the influence of differences in gender, education, age, income or rural residence on individual behaviour. Because Barometer surveys ask the same questions in many countries, they can measure the extent to which behaviour and attitudes are the same in different societies in transition. The Omnibus core is a set of political, economic and social indicators developed by the CSPP for monitoring European societies in transition.
Modules consist of questions specially designed to meet specific needs of survey collaborators.
Thus, every NEB survey has both trend data and fresh questions. The number of countries covered can be adjusted to suit the geographical priorities of sponsors. The CSPP has much experience in the clear and meaningful presentation of sophisticated statistical data. Repeating the same questions across countries and across time creates a unique data base for trend analysis, with more than 100 Barometer surveys across Central and Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union. Existing data bases can be used for specially commissioned reports or to add a valuable trend dimension to questions in the 2001 Omnibus.