The master questionnaire of the 2008 European Values Study was developed by the theory group. Questions were standardized between waves and between countries. A rich set of socio-demographic background variables was added to the questionnaire, facilitating research on of the determinants of values. The council of National Program Directors critically reviewed this process and approved the final master questionnaire. In addition, the translation process, fieldwork procedures and data processing were standardized.

In all countries, a representative multi-stage or stratified random sample of the adult population of the country 18 years and older, was approached for face-to-face interviews. Interviewers were thoroughly trained before they went into the field and made at least three revisits in case of not reaching the selected respondent at the first visit. Interviewers completed a predefined contact form for each visit and quality control back-checks were made.

More information about the fieldwork and the variables in the EVS 2008 integrated dataset can be found in the following reports:

Guidelines and Recommendations

Method Report

Variable Report

For country-specific information, see Participating countries and country-information.