The 1981 survey conducted by the European Values Systems Study Group (EVSSG) in thirteen European countries was an initiative of Jan Kerkhofs from the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) and Ruud de Moor from Tilburg University (The Netherlands). They established the European Value Systems Study Group Foundation, located in Amsterdam. The Board of the Foundation was chaired by Ruud de Moor (Tilburg University) and members were Jan Kerkhofs (Catholic University of Leuven), and Joseph Bröllman, lawyer in Amsterdam.
A steering group and a technical group were established. The steering group consisted of Heinz Maier-Leibnitz, K. Foster, Jacques Rabier, Pierre Delooz, Mark Abrams, Jan Kerkhofs and Ruud de Moor. The technical group carried the responsibility for developing a questionnaire and conducting the fieldwork. This group consisted of Gordon Heald (director of Gallup in London), Meril James (Gallup London), Elisabeth Noelle-Neuman and Renate Köcher (both Institut für Demoskopie in Allensbach), Jean Stoetzel and Hélène Riffault (Faits et Opinions, Paris), Juan Linz (Yale University, US and Data sa, Madrid), and Steve Harding (at that time teaching at Nene College, Northampton).
For an overview of the 1981 data and all related documentation, click here.