The 1999-questionnaire was designed around four broad domains or themes of life: religion and morality, politics, work and leisure, primary relations. In all countries representative national samples were asked this questionnaire, but the quality of the samples varies from country to country. With the exception of Greece, in all countries surveys were carried out by experienced professional survey organizations. The surveys were performed through face-to-face interviews among samples of all adult citizens aged 18 years and older. No upper age limit was imposed.

Guidelines for the surveys were provided by the coordinating organisation at Tilburg University and in order to get standardized information on the surveys in the various countries, the national representatives had to complete a methodological questionnaire. This questionnaire, developed by the EVS methodology group, provides detailed information on the translation of the questionnaire, the sampling procedures, fieldwork, weighting, national codes, the inclusion of optional and country-specific questions, etc. More information on the 1999 survey can be found in the sourcebook.

Overview and comparison of variables
During the period in which the three surveys were held, the format and contents of the surveys have changed. Variable names are different between surveys, questions have been removed or adjusted and new topics have been added. Here you can view variables that are included in the 1999-, 1990- and 1981-datafiles. This document gives an overview of the existing variables and it also shows which of the variables in the three surveys are comparable in time. Compare document