European communities study, 1971
By: principal investigators, Ronald Inglehrt and Jacques-Rene Rabier
Series: Euro-barometer survey series; ICPSR -- 7275; ICPSR (Series) -- 7275
Publisher: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor
Published: 1976
Place of publication: Ann Arbor, Mich
Language: und
Format: [computer file] /
Subjects: Public opinion; Agriculture; Economic aspects; European federation; European Economic Community
Description: The study contained four major sections: a measure of the respondents' feelings of regional belonging, their awareness of and ideas about agricultural problems, their opinions of the Common Market and European unification, and a measure of the amount and source of their knowledge in these areas. The section dealing with regional sentiments probed the degree of regional nationalism felt by the respondents. The extent of past and anticipated future inter-regional mobility within each country and within Europe was also investigated. The section on agricultural problems explored existing problems, their causes, and the future of agriculture in the respondents' countries. The emphasis of the study was on the Common Market section. Respondents' opinions about the effects of the Market on agriculture, industry, and the region as a whole were obtained as were reactions to the possibility of expansion in order to include more countries. In addition, some questions examined attitudes toward the desirability and feasibility of the evolution of a United States of Europe. The last section of the study ascertained how well-informed the respondents were about problems in agriculture and economic development in their region, and probed their knowledge of the Common Market.
Notes: These surveys are the fruit of a unique program of cross-national and cross-temporal social science research. The effort began in early 1970, when the Commission of the European Communities sponsored simultaneous surveys of the publics of the European Community. These surveys were designed to measure public awareness of, and attitudes toward, the Common Market and other European Community institutions, in complimentary fashion, they also probed into the goals given top priority for one's own nation. These concerns have remained a central part of the European Community's research efforts--which were carried forward with another six-nation survey in the Summer of 1971 that gave special attention to agricultural problems. These themes were of central interest again in a survey of the publics of the European Community countries--now nine in number--carried out in September, 1973. At this point the surveys took on a somewhat broader scope in content as well as in geographical coverage, with measures of subjective satisfaction and the perceived quality of life becoming a standard feature of the European Community public opinion surveys. In 1974, the Commission of the European Communities launched the Euro-Barometer series of the surveys, designed to provide a regular monitoring of the social and political attributes of the publics of the nine member-nations, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, and Luxembourg.

These Euro-Barometers are carried out in the Spring and Fall of each year. In addition to obtaining regular readings of support for European integration and the perceived quality of life, each of the Euro-Barometers have explored a variety of special topics. In addition, attitudes toward the organization and role of the European Parliament have been explored in each Euro-Barometer beginning with number 7 in the Spring of 1977. Starting with Barometer 14, Greece joined the other nine countries in which these surveys are carried out. This entire series of public opinion surveys has been carried out under the direction of Jacques-Rene Rabier, Special Advisor to the Commission of the European Communities. Helene Riffault, of Faits et Opinions, was responsible for cross-national coordination of the fieldwork. Ronald Inglehart of The University of Michigan collaborated with them in design and analysis of the surveys, and in helping make the resulting data available to the social science community through ICPSR.

ICPSR data class: Class II.

Data collected: 1971.

Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands.

The data are available in both card image and OSIRIS formats.

1971 European communities study / principal investigators, Ronald Inglehart, Jacques-René Rabier. ICPSR ed. Ann Arbor, Mich. :ICPSR, 1976.

9,277 respondents, 2 decks of data per respondent; 84 variables.

Inglehart, Ronald. The Silent Revolution: Changing Values and Political Styles Among Western Publics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1977.