British Participation in the International Social Survey Programme, 2016 - 2018

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The International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) is one of the most important attempts to undertake cross-national survey research that currently exists. 46 countries currently participate, covering all five of inhabited continents across the world. Each year, member countries field an agreed module of 60 questions on a particular topic, usually as part of an existing random probability survey. The data from these studies, along with a set of prescribed socio-demographic background variables is then deposited in an agreed format with ISSP data archive. A wide range of different modules have been fielded since the project began in 1985, covering topics such as social inequality, religion and the role of government. Topics are chosen at an annual plenary meeting by attending members. They are revisited periodically, with a number having been covered three or four times. As a result, ISSP data can be used both to examine differences between countries at a particular point in time and to compare differences in trends over time.A combined dataset containing data for all countries is made publicly available to the research community approximately two years after data collection has taken place. ISSP data are widely used; worldwide, over 200 publications are recorded each year. In Britain, there have been over 500 publications using ISSP data since the programme began, close to 10% of the worldwide total.Since ISSP began, Britain's participation has been facilitated by including the ISSP module on a self-completion supplement that forms part of the British Social Attitudes survey (BSA), an annual, high quality independent survey conducted by NatCen. This is a highly cost effective way of fielding the module, as only the marginal costs of asking the ISSP questions have to be covered.Until 2002, British participation was primarily funded through core funding given to the Centre for Research into Elections and Social Trends, an ESRC Research Centre. Since 2004 it has been funded as a research resource by the ESRC Resources Board, and this application proposes that this arrangement should continue for a further three years. ISSP will cover three topics during this period: role of government (2016), social networks (2017) and religion (2018):- The role of government module was previously fielded in 1985, 1990, 1996 and 2006. Its repetition will provide valuable data allowing us to track how views about issues such as extremism, surveillance and counter-terrorism have changed over time, at a time when many countries have experienced terror attacks or threats (and thus when we might anticipate attitude change)- The 2017 module on social networks was fielded in 1986 and 2004, and will include questions on support networks, a census of family and friendship relations, the use of social media in maintaining relationships, and whether relationships are positive or not. The module also looks at who should provide care and services for vulnerable groups at a time when an aging population is causing financial strain in many countries- The 2018 module on religion (asked 1991, 1998, 2008) will allow us to examine spirituality and well-being, the place of religion within state institutions, and the role of religion in conflict and extremism. This will provide valuable insights into how people follow and perceive religion during a period when it has been called on to justify acts of extremism and aggressionA range of dissemination activities promoting awareness and use of ISSP data by social science researchers, policy-makers and media are proposed. These include: including at least one chapter a year based on ISSP data in the annual BSA report, which is freely available online and widely disseminated; developing a bespoke ISSP website including visualization of ISSP data; utilizing NatCen's strong social media presence to raise awareness of the data; delivering presentations to relevant research and policy audiences.