Global Social Comparisons: A Review of International Survey Resources and Research

在过去的二十年里，发生了规模和范围空前的变化，世界面临着一系列新的“重大社会挑战”。与此同时，通过电信和计算能力的改进，支撑社会调查的基础设施也发生了革命性的变化。导致社会转型的力量同时也为分析社会转型提供了工具。这在调查研究方面当然是正确的，在过去的三十年中，高质量的跨国研究的数量有所增加。社会研究市场的合并和收购导致具有全球影响力的参与者数量减少。在这些长期发展的前景中，英国脱欧公投给英国“在世界上的地位”问题带来了新的刺激，以及英国在脱欧后应该如何定位自己。它会继续与欧洲大陆紧密相连，继续将其视为社会和公共政策的参考点吗？还是将脸转向别处，向西转向美洲，或向东转向新兴国家和新近大胆起来的亚洲资本主义？在这种背景和前景的背景下，该项目旨在探索创建全球社会调查（GLOSOC）的可行性，该调查可以为全球变化的研究提供信息，以及英国在这一过程中的作用。如果真的有这样一个基础设施的案例，它将采取什么形式，以及如何（由谁）创建？拟议的工作进行如下：作为初步工作，它将迅速审查国际调查情况，以便评估已取得的成就，以及在实质性或地理方面是否仍存在重大的数据空白。这些调查将包括国际社会调查项目、世界价值观调查、世代与性别调查、盖洛普世界民意调查和皮尤全球态度调查。它将由对英国参与和利用此类国际调查结果的平行评估来补充。在绘制景观图的基础上，我们会联系潜在的利益相关者讨论项目，并聘请一些人作为顾问小组的专家成员。协商过程将包括面谈、专家组和制定一项宣传计划。下一阶段的工作将确定GLOSOC的战略目标及其发展的基本参数：其规模、地理覆盖范围、规模和内容范围、频率，以及任何新调查的核心问题——衡量什么、为谁、为了什么目的？一旦确定了战略目的，下一阶段的工作将分为三个部分：首先，技术咨询小组将对调查的战略愿景进行细化，以便为指导参数确定更确切的数字，甚至在这个初步阶段，确定在潜在候选国家进行测试的项目。小组的另一个关键关注将是“互操作性”问题，主要是确保新的调查基础设施在其主题、地理组成和方法原则方面与现有的跨国资源在一定程度上协调一致。与此同时，它将探讨管理和保护未来受访者数据的需要所带来的法律和操作问题；还将制定一个治理和业务结构蓝图，以确保公平的代表性和使用，并发展科学能力。工作的最后阶段将产生“选项分析”，其中GLOSOC的一系列模型将被展示和评估。在收到对临时版本的反馈后，该项目将产生其最终立场文件，并提出行动建议。

The last twenty years have ushered in changes of arguably unprecedented scale and scope, confronting the world with a new set of 'Grand Societal Challenges'. At the same time the infrastructure underpinning social inquiry has also been revolutionised through improvements in telecommunications and computing capacity. The same forces that are leading to social transformation are at the same time providing tools for its analysis. This is certainly true in terms of survey research where the amount of high quality cross-national research has increased in the last thirty years. Mergers and acquisitions in the social research market have resulted in a smaller number of influential players with global reach. In the foreground of these longer-term developments, the UK's vote to leave the European Union has given new stimulus to the question of Britain's 'place in the world', and how its should be positioning itself after Brexit. Will it remain closely tethered to the continent of Europe, continuing to see it as a point of reference for social and public policy? Or will it turn its face away, westwards towards the Americas, or eastwards to face the emerging nations and the newly emboldened Asian capitalism? In the context of both this background and this foreground, the project aims to explore the feasibility of creating a global social survey (GLOSOC) that could inform the study of global change, and the role of the UK within that process. Should there indeed be a case for such a piece of infrastructure, what form is it to take and how (and by whom) is it to be created?The proposed work proceeds as follows: by way of preliminaries it will undertake a rapid review of the international survey landscape, in order to assess what has been achieved, and whether there remain significant data deserts in either substantive or geographical terms. These will include the International Social Survey Programme, the World Values Survey, the Generations and Gender Programme, the Gallup World Poll and Pew's Global Attitudes Survey. It will be complemented by a parallel evaluation of the UK's participation in, and exploitation of results from, such international surveys. On the basis of the landscape mapping, potential stakeholders will be contacted to discuss the project and some recruited as expert members of advisory panels. The consultation process will include interviews, expert groups and the development of a communications plan.The next stage of work will establish the strategic aims for a GLOSOC and with them the basis parameters within which it will be developed: its scale, its geographical coverage, its size and range of content, its frequency, and the central questions for any new survey - measuring what, for whom, and to what end? Once the strategic purpose is defined, the next phase of work will have three strands: firstly the strategic vision for the survey will be refined by a Technical Advisory Panel, in order to put firmer numbers to the guiding parameters, and even at this preliminary stage, identify items for testing in potential candidate countries. Another key concern for the panel will be the question of 'interoperability', essentially ensuring that the new piece of survey infrastructure will be harmonised to a degree with pre-existing cross-national resources, in terms of its subject matter, its geographical composition, and its methodological principles. At the same time it will explore the legal and operational issues presented by the need to manage and keep secure future respondent data; there will also be a blueprint for governance and operations structures that ensure fair representation and use and develop scientific capability.The final phase of the work will produce an 'options analysis', in which a spectrum of models for a GLOSOC will be presented and evaluated. After receiving feedback on an interim version, the project will produce its final position paper, with recommendations for action.