United States Participation in the 2010-12 World Values Survey

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SES-1042357Ronald InglehartJon MillerUniversity of MichiganThe World Values Survey (WVS) began collecting data from a large number of countries in 1981 and has collected data every five years from more than 90 countries since its inception. It is expected that more than 60 countries will participate in the 6th wave of the WVS in 2010-11. This project will complete the field work for the U.S. component of the 6th wave of WVS, expanding a set of items concerning attitudes toward science and technology.The WVS provides the only source of data on mass values and attitudes from countries containing a majority of the world?s population. The availability of data from the WVS over the last 25 years makes it possible to carryout cross-national analyses that (1) examine the impact of economic and technological change on people?s values, and (2) analyze the impact of individual-level values beliefs on societal-level phenomena such as the extent to which a society has democratic values. A set of items measuring attitudes toward science and technology were added to the 5th wave of the WVS and an expanded set of science and technology items will be included in the 6th wave. Current controversies over topics such as stem cell research, genetically modified crops, and climate change illustrate the importance of understanding the formation and distribution of these attitudes. Broader ImpactsThe values of individuals are changing and these changes have a major impact on a wide range of important societal-level phenomena, including the acceptance of science and technology. They also have a major influence on the extent to which a society has good governance and democratic institutions. Numerous researchers have used WVS data to analyze social change, producing hundreds of books and more than 1000 articles. More than 400,000 students and faculty from all six continents have visited the WVS web site and downloaded data and publications since the completion of the 5th wave in 2007.