European Commission, Directorate-General for Communication
European Commission, Directorate-General for Communication
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Rue de la Loi 56 / Wetstraat 56
1000 Bruxelles / Brussel
Postal address: building L56 - 1049 - Bruxelles / Brussel Belgique
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See 2.3.
31/03/2024
31/03/2024
Eurobarometers are public opinion surveys conducted regularly on behalf of the European Commission by contractors. The main Eurobarometer surveys are the Standard Eurobarometers, which collects cross-country longitudinal data on – broadly – the same questions. Aside from the Standard Eurobarometer survey, Special Eurobarometer surveys are based on in-depth thematical studies carried out for various services of the European Commission or other EU Institutions and integrated in Standard Eurobarometer's polling waves.
The following specifications apply to individual Special Eurobarometer surveys.
Special Eurobarometer 535/ Wave 99.2: The survey examined discrimination in the European Union. Five previous Eurobarometer surveys examining discrimination have been conducted in the past: in 2006, 2009, 2012, 2015 and 2019. The 2023 survey repeats several questions asked in previous years to provide insight into the evolution of perceptions, attitudes, knowledge, and awareness of discrimination in the European Union. In 2023, 26, 404 respondents from different social and demographic groups were interviewed for this survey. The fieldwork was conducted from April-May 2023 and the official Special Report was published in December 2023.
Special Eurobarometer 493/ Wave 91.4: In 2019, 27,438 respondents from different social and demographic groups were interviewed for this survey. The fieldwork was conducted from 9 and 25 May 2019 and the official Special Report was published in October 2019.
Special Eurobarometer 437 / Wave 83.4: In 2015, 27,718 respondents from different social and demographic groups were interviewed for this survey. The fieldwork was conducted from 30 May to 8 June 2015 and the official Special Report was published in October 2015.
Further information, including downloadable reports and other publications can also be found on Eurobarometer webpages.
Each Eurobarometer survey uses predefined categories according to which responses are coded.
Results are weighted in a post-stratification process taking into account sex, age and region NUTS II.
Not applicable.
Main statistical concepts including possible answer categories and standard variables such as time period (year), country, sex (women, men, total) are listed in the basic bilingual questionnaires for Special Eurobarometers 535, 493, and 437:
Special Eurobarometer 535 - Questionnaires
Special Eurobarometer 493 - Questionnaires
Special Eurobarometer 437 - Questionnaires
Proportion of respondents.
The survey covers the population of the European Union Member States, national and non-national residents aged 15 years and over.
The regular sample size (in the sense of completed interviews) is 1000 respondents per country, except the United Kingdom with separate samples for Great Britain (1000) and Northern Ireland (300), Germany with separate samples for the Eastern (500) and the Western part (1000), as well as Luxembourg, Cyprus (Republic), and Malta with 500 interviews each.
Actual number of interviews conducted in each country/ region are specified in the respective variable reports, available for download in the Study overviews for each of the Special Eurobarometers 535, 493, and 437.
Data included in EIGE’s Gender Statistics Database based on Special Eurobarometers 535, 493, and 437 cover the following geographical areas:
Data derived from the survey reflects the most current opinion and perception of the citizens of the European Union Member States on the specified topic.
Time coverage for fieldwork is as follows:
Not applicable.
Indicators are expressed as percentages of all respondents that chose a particular answer to each question. The breakdowns are given by sex and, where relevant, other respondent characteristics.
The Special Eurobarometer 535, 493, and 437 surveys are non-recurrent. The measured observation refers to the current situation, refenced by the year of publication, within the geographic area covered.
No legal acts are applicable. The Eurobarometer public opinion surveys are conducted on behalf of and co-ordinated by the European Commission, DG Press and Communication - Opinion Polls Sector (European Commission Public Opinion Analysis). Special topic modules are carried out at the request of the responsible EU Directorate General. This survey was requested by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Justice and Home Affairs.
Not applicable.
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.
No administrative information such as names or addresses that would allow direct identification, is published. Anonymity is preserved in the aggregate data.
There is no scheduled calendar release date for Special Eurobarometers.
There is no scheduled calendar release date for Special Eurobarometers.
All Eurobarometer data is available free of charge for non-commercial use and can be downloaded from the European Data Portal.
The data on special topics are released after the publication of the related full official Special Report. At latest and regardless of the report publication, the data are expected to be released two years after fieldwork is completed.
There is no fixed frequency for dissemination. Special Eurobarometer surveys are non-recurrent.
No regular news release.
Special Eurobarometer reports are based on in-depth thematic studies carried out for various services of the European Commission or other EU Institutions and integrated in the Standard Eurobarometer's polling waves. There are no regular publication intervals for these reports.
The full list of Standard, Special, Flash and Qualitative Eurobarometer reports can be found at the European Commission's website: http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/General/index
All Eurobarometer data is available free of charge for non-commercial use and can be downloaded from the European Data Portal.
All Eurobarometer data is available free of charge for non-commercial use and can be downloaded from the European Data Portal.
Not applicable.
Special Eurobarometers follow a standard method of data collection and analysis. However, there are differences in content such as sample size and number of Member States included (See section 3.6).
Information on all aspects of data quality is accessible online for each individual Eurobarometer via the European Data Portal.
In all countries, fieldwork was conducted on the basis of detailed and uniform instructions. A multi-stage random sampling design including the closest birthday method, was used to eliminate possible sample selection bias.
Data was weighted via post-stratification and population size weights. The post-stratification weights used demographic variables such as age-group, gender and education to reduce the sampling error and potential non-response bias. In addition, population size weights ensured each country including those with lower sample sizes (e.g. Great Britain and Northern Ireland, East and West Germany) were represented proportionally within their respective population size or reflecting ascension to the European Union.
Quality checks were undertaken for completeness of data, missing data and duplicate records, for illegal codes and for consistency of response patterns and question routing. Errors discovered by quality checks were documented or corrected after consulting related documentation (e.g. tabular reports) or the data provider. Indices and other derived summary variables were also checked and corrected as necessary.
Back-translation procedures were applied for controlling semantic equivalence across languages. Proof reading and back-translation were performed by independent translators, following central checks, local changes and final improvement by the main contractor. Final results are checked for completeness, technical integrity and basic consistency of data and documentation.
No formal quality assessment has been run. However, overall, the Special Eurobarometer surveys exhibit high-quality standards. Quality assurance measures have been implemented at each step, starting with questionnaire design. Proof reading at various levels and back-translation procedure was applied to ensure greater level of translation accuracy, especially in regard to semantics. In addition, random probability sampling has been utilised to minimise bias and two weighting factors were adopted to eliminate sampling error. Most importantly, a coherent methodology adopted for all Special Eurobarometer surveys ensure unwanted bias or error is minimised as well as allow comparability of data across time and countries.
However, a design weight which would adjust for unequal selection probabilities (depending on the household size) is not made available, with some potential for sample selection bias.
The Special Eurobarometer surveys cover a wide range of issues. This helps policy-makers gauge public opinions and attitudes on key topics. For example:
No user satisfaction surveys are carried out.
Please refer to section 3.7 on data coverage.
A design weight which would adjust for unequal selection probabilities (depending on the household size) is not made available, with potential for sample selection bias. However, two weighting variables have been used to reduce sampling error and potential non-response bias (explained in section 13.2).
The post-stratification weights used demographic variables such as age group, gender, and education to reduce the sampling error and potential non-response bias. In addition, population size weights ensured each country including those with lower sample sizes (e.g. Great Britain and Northern Ireland, East and West Germany) were represented proportionally within their respective population size or reflecting ascension to the European Union.
Not available.
Official reports of Special Eurobarometer are published on the European Commission Eurobarometer webpage, at the following interval:
The data on special topics are released after the publication of the related full official Special Report. At latest and regardless of the report publication, the data are expected to be released two years after fieldwork.
Coherence is a main priority in the Special Eurobarometer and therefore the variables have been implemented in a harmonised way based on detailed and uniform instructions. In addition, a common master questionnaire and back-translation ensured semantic, conceptual and normative equivalence across all surveyed countries.
Topics for Special Eurobarometers depend on requests by the respectively responsible EC Directorate General. Hence, questions are not generally repeated.
Not applicable.
Internal coherence of the data (e.g. across countries) is ensured through careful application of a common methodology and validation of data at various stages of data analysis.
Data collection is co-ordinated by the contractor for Special Eurobarometer 535, 493, and 437 and carried out through its network of national institutes, at the request of the European Parliament, Directorate-General for Communication, and of the European Commission, Directorate-General for Communication.
There is no burden on Member States.
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
Special Eurobarometer 535, 493, and 437 data are survey data. For each survey a random sample of participants have been interviewed face-to-face or via CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interview) in countries where this technique was available.
Non-recurrent.
In all Member States, fieldwork was conducted on the basis of detailed and uniform instructions. Interviews were conducted face-to-face in people´s home in the respective national language. Data was captured via CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interview) in countries where this technique was available. A master questionnaire was developed in English and French for all four Special Eurobarometers. The master questionnaire was translated into other languages by the firms responsible for interviewing in each country. Multi-language questionnaires were also applied as appropriate (in countries such as Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Malta).
See section 11.1 on quality assurance.
Data collected from individual respondents are aggregated and broken down by main characteristics only. Data included in EIGE’s Gender Statistics Database is broken down by gender.
Please refer to section 13.2 on the application of post-stratification weights.
None.