Abstract
In this chapter, we list and briefly define the sociodemographic background variables required in social surveys. We then provide a step-by-step description of the harmonization process for the core sociodemographic variables private household, education, labor force measures, total net household income, and ethnicity. To prepare these variables for cross-national comparison, five steps are required in each case: (1) definition of the measurement concept, (2) description of the underlying national concepts and structures, (3) development of an appropriate measurement instrument, (4) selection of the harmonization strategy, and finally (5) the measurement instrument.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
See gss.norc.org. Accessed on January 26, 2018.
- 2.
For example UNESCO Institute for Statistics. ISCED Mappings. http://uis.unesco.org/en/isced-mappings. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
- 3.
See: “Harry Ganzeboom’s Tools for deriving occupational status measures from ISCO-08” with interpretative notes to ISCO-08. http://www.harryganzeboom.nl/isco08/index.htm. Accessed on January 26, 2018.
- 4.
See United States District Court Order for the Northern District of California filed on January 9, 2018 granting some provisional relief from the rescission. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Humanitarian/Deferred%20Action%20for%20Childhood%20Arrivals/234_Order_Entering_Preliminary_Injunction.pdf. Accessed on January 26, 2018.
- 5.
International Organization for Standardization. Country Codes ISO 3166. https://www.iso.org/iso-3166-country-codes.html. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
- 6.
International Organization for Standardization. Language Codes ISO 639. https://www.iso.org/iso-639-language-codes.html. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
- 7.
Our intention is to collect the most detailed possible information in order to reduce “noise” and to obtain the most reliable, valid, and robust measurement possible. However, for cross-national and cross-cultural analysis, a compromise is acceptable, provided it allows data to be compared across countries and cultures.
References
Alba, R. (2005). Bilingualism persists, but English still dominates. Migration Information Source. http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/bilingualism-persists-english-still-dominates/. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
Atkinson, A. B. (2015). Inequality: What can be done?. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Brauns, H., Scherer, S., & Steinmann, S. (2003). The CASMIN educational classification in international comparative research. In J. H. P. Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik & C. Wolf (Eds.), Advances in cross-national comparison. A European working book for demographic and socio-economic variables (pp. 221–244). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
British Nationality Act (1948). Chapter 56. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1948/56/pdfs/ukpga_19480056_en.pdf. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
British Nationality Act (1981). Chapter 61. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/61/pdfs/ukpga_19810061_en.pdf. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
BVFG (1953). Gesetz über die Angelegenheiten der Vertriebenen und Flüchtlinge (Bundesvertriebenengesetz–BVFG), Bundesgesetzblatt Teil I, Nr. 22, May 22, 1953.
BVFG (2015). Bundesvertriebenengesetz in der Fassung der Bekanntmachung vom 10. August 2007 (BGBl. I S. 1902), das zuletzt durch Artikel 10 des Gesetzes vom 20. November 2015 (BGBl. I S. 2010) geändert worden ist. https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bvfg/BJNR002010953.html. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
Canberra Group (2011). Handbook on household income statistics (2nd ed.). Geneva: United Nations. http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/stats/groups/cgh/Canbera_Handbook_2011_WEB.pdf. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
Coast, E., Fanghanel, A., Lelievre, E., & Randall, S. (2016). Counting the population or describing society? A comparison of English and Welsh and French censuses. European Journal of Population, 32, 165–188.
Congress.gov S.1291: DREAM Act–107th Congress (2001–2002). https://www.congress.gov/bill/107th-congress/senate-bill/1291. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
Erikson, R., & Goldthorpe, J. H. (1992). The constant flux: A study of class mobility in industrial societies. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Erikson, R., Goldthorpe, J. H., & Portocarero, L. (1979). Intergenerational class mobility in three Western European societies: England, France and Sweden. British Journal of Sociology, 30, 415–451.
European Commission. European Community Household Panel (ECHP). http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/microdata/european-community-household-panel. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
European Commission (2014). The structure of the European education systems 2014/15: Schematic diagrams, November 2014. Education and training. Eurydice–Facts and figures. http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/Eurydice/documents/facts_and_figures/education_structures_EN.pdf. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
European Commission & Eurostat (2015). EU Labour Force Survey. Database user guide. Version: November 2015. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/1978984/6037342/EULFS-Database-UserGuide.pdf. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
European Commission & Eurostat (2017). European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). Description of dataset. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/microdata/european-union-statistics-on-income-and-living-conditions. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
European Social Survey. www.europeansocialsurvey.org. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
European Social Survey (2012). ESS6—2012 Documentation Report. Edition 2.0. Appendix A2 Income, ESS6—2012 ed. 2.0. http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/docs/round6/survey/ESS6_appendix_a2_e02_0.pdf. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
European Social Survey (2014). Appendix A1, Education, ESS7–2014 ed. 3.1. http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/docs/round7/survey/ESS7_appendix_a1_e03_1.pdf. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
Eurydice (2016). Countries. Description of national education systems. https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice/home_en. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
Francis, E. K. (1976). Interethnic relations: An essay in sociological theory. New York: Elsevier.
Ganzeboom, H. B. G., De Graaf, P. M., Treiman, D. J., & de Leeuw, J. (1992). A standard international socio-economic index of occupational status. Social Science Research, 21, 1–56.
Ganzeboom, H. B. G., & Sno, T. E. (2015). Detailed and crude measures of occupational status; Can we discard ISCO? In Presentation at ISA RC28 Spring Conference, RC28 Tilburg. http://www.harryganzeboom.nl/pdf/2015-Ganzeboom-Sno-DetailedAndCrudeMeasurementInISSP2009.pdf. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
Ganzeboom, H. B. G., & Treiman, D. J. (1996). Internationally comparable measures of occupational status for the 1988 International Standard Classification of Occupations. Social Science Research, 25, 201–239.
Ganzeboom, H. B. G., & Treiman, D. J. (2003). Three internationally standardised measures for comparative research on occupational status. In J. H. P. Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik & C. Wolf (Eds.), Advances in cross-national comparison. A European working book for demographic and socio-economic variable (pp. 159–193). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
Gerber, E. R., Wellens, T. R., & Keeley, C. (1996). “Who lives here?” The use of vignettes in household roster research. In Proceedings of the Section on Survey Research Methods, Alexandria, VA: American Statistical Association (pp. 962–967). http://www.census.gov/srd/papers/pdf/erg9601.pdf. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
Goldthorpe, J. H. (1980). Social mobility and class structure in modern Britain. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik, J. H. P. (2003). “Stellung im Beruf” als Ersatz für eine Berufsklassifikation zur Ermittlung von sozialem Prestige. ZUMA-Nachrichten, 53, 114–127.
Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik, J. H. P., & Warner, U. (2005). How to measure education in cross-national comparison: Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik/Warner matrix of education as a new instrument. In J. H. P. Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik and J. A. Harkness (Eds.), Methodological aspects in cross-national research (pp. 223–240) ZUMA-Nachrichten Spezial 11.
Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik, J. H. P., & Warner, U. (2006). Methodological discussion of the income measure in the European Social Survey Round 1. Metodološki zvezki, 3(2), 289–334.
Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik, J. H. P., & Warner, U. (2007). How to survey education for cross-national comparison: The Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik/Warner-Matrix of education. Metodološki zvezki, 4(2), 117–148.
Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik, J. H. P., & Warner, U. (2008). Private household concepts and their operationalisation in national and international social surveys. Mannheim: GESIS-ZUMA.
Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik, J. H. P., & Warner, U. (2011). Measuring occupation and labour status in cross-national comparative surveys. Bonn: GESIS.
Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik, J. H. P., & Warner, U. (2014). Harmonising demographic and socio-economic variables for cross-national comparative survey research. Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media.
Hussmanns, R., Mehran, F., & Verma, V. (1990). Surveys of economically active population, employment, unemployment and underemployment: An ILO manual on concepts and methods. Geneva: International Labour Organization.
International Labour Organization (ILO) (1982). Resolution concerning statistics of the economically active population, employment, unemployment and underemployment. In Adopted by the thirteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians. www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/download/res/ecacpop.pdf. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
International Labour Organization (ILO) (2009). International Standard Classification of Occupations, ISCO 08 Draft definitions. http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/isco/isco08/index.htm. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
International Labour Organization (ILO) (2012). International Standard Classification of Occupations. ISCO-08 Volume I. Structure, group definitions and correspondence tables. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/@publ/documents/publication/wcms_172572.pdf. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
International Labour Organization (ILO) (2013). Statistics of work and of the labour force. Report for discussion at the meeting of experts in labour statistics on the advancement of employment and unemployment statistics (Geneva, January 28–February 1, 2013). http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---stat/documents/event/wcms_175150.pdf. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
International Labour Organization (ILO) (2016a). International Standard Classification of Occupations. ISCO-08. http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/isco/isco08/index.htm. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
International Labour Organization (ILO) (2016b). Structure, group definitions and correspondence tables, Part III. Definitions of major groups, sub-major groups, minor groups, and unit groups. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_172572.pdf. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
International Organization for Standardization (2017a). Language codes–ISO 693-2. http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
International Organization for Standardization (2017b). Country codes–ISO 3166. https://www.iso.org/iso-3166-country-codes.html. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
Jary, D., & Jary, J. (1995). Dictionary of sociology (2nd ed.). Glasgow: Harper Collins Publishers.
Kuhry, B., Herweijer, L., & Heesakker, R. (2004). Education. In Social and Cultural Planning Office (SCP) (Eds.), Public sector performance. An international comparison of education, health care, law and order and public administration (pp. 79–119). The Hague: Social and Cultural Planning Office.
Martin, E. A., & Gerber, E. R. (2005). Results of recent methodological research on the Hispanic origin and race questions. Research Report Series (Survey Methodology #2005–04). Washington D.C.: U.S. Bureau of the Census.
OECD, European Union, & UNESCO-UIS (2015). ISCED 2011 operational manual. Guidelines for classifying national education programmes and related qualifications. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002323/232343e.pdf. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
Piketty, T. (2014). Capital in the twenty-first century. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Ruf, W. (2002). Identität und Integration–Islamische Staatsbürgerschaft in Frankreich. Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik Nr., 5(2002), 594–601.
Schneider, J. (2005). Aussiedler. Migration. Migration und Integration in Deutschland. Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung. March 15, 2005.
Schröder, H., & Ganzeboom, H. G. B. (2014). Measuring and modelling level of education in European societies. European Sociological Review, 30(1), 119–136.
Treiman, D. J. (1977). Occupational prestige in comparative perspective. New York: Academic Press.
UNESCO-UIS (2006). International Standard Classifications of Education, ISCED 1997 Re-edition. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001469/146967e.pdf. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
UNESCO-UIS (2012). International Standard Classifications of Education, ISCED 2011. http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/international-standard-classification-of-education-isced-2011-en.pdf. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
UNESCO-UIS (2018). ISCED Mappings. http://uis.unesco.org/en/isced-mappings. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (2017). Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). https://www.uscis.gov/archive/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-daca. Retrieved on January 26, 2018.
Weber, M. (1978). Economy and society: An outline of interpretive sociology. In G. Roth & C. Wittich (Eds.). Berkeley (CA): University of California Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik, J.H.P., Warner, U. (2018). Demographic and Socioeconomic Questions in Surveys. In: Sociodemographic Questionnaire Modules for Comparative Social Surveys. SpringerBriefs in Population Studies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90209-8_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90209-8_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90208-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-90209-8
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)