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The ESS survey (European Social Survey, http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org) emerged from the need to obtain comparative data in Europe on a number of issues concerning political science, sociology, social psychology, mass communication or economics. The ESS is a study introduced in 2002 and replicated every two years. This is the third edition of the study in Switzerland. The ESS provides indicators on the practices and representations of the Swiss population, making it possible to compare them with European countries and to observe the evolution over time. The 2006 edition focuses on social and personal well-being, as well as the relationship between young and old generations.

The ESS survey (European Social Survey, http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org) emerged from the need to obtain comparative data in Europe on a number of issues concerning political science, sociology, social psychology, mass communication or economics. The ESS is a study introduced in 2002 and replicated every two years. This is the third edition of the study in Switzerland. The ESS provides indicators on the practices and representations of the Swiss population, making it possible to compare them with European countries and to observe the evolution over time. The 2006 edition focuses on social and personal well-being, as well as the relationship between young and old generations.

All social surveys suffer from different types of errors, of which one of the most studied is non-response bias. Non-response bias is a systematic error that occurs because individuals differ in their accessibility and propensity to participate in a survey according to their own characteristics as well as those from the survey itself. The extent of the problem heavily depends on the correlation between response mechanisms and key survey variables. However, non-response bias is difficult to measure or to correct for due to the lack of relevant data about the whole target population or sample. In this paper, non-response follow-up surveys are considered as a possible source of information about non-respondents. Non-response follow-ups, however, suffer from two methodological issues: they themselves operate through a response mechanism that can cause potential non-response bias, and they pose a problem of comparability of measure, mostly because the survey design differs between main survey and non-response follow-up. In order to detect possible bias, the survey variables included in non-response surveys have to be related to the mechanism of participation, but not be sensitive to measurement effects due to the different designs. Based on accumulated experience of four similar non-response follow-ups, we studied the survey variables that fulfill these conditions. We differentiated socio-demographic variables that are measurement-invariant but have a lower correlation with non-response and variables that measure attitudes, such as trust, social participation, or integration in the public sphere, which are more sensitive to measurement effects but potentially more appropriate to account for the non-response mechanism. Our results show that education level, work status, and living alone, as well as political interest, satisfaction with democracy, and trust in institutions are pertinent variables to include in non-response follow-ups of general social surveys.

Since 1999, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) has supported Switzerland's participation in international surveys. SIDOS is responsible for their implementation.
In autumn 1999 the first survey "Eurobarometer in Switzerland" was launched. This survey includes questions from the Eurobarometer survey of the European Commission, a specific Swiss socio-political part and a socio-demographic part. Since 2000, the questions from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) were added. This survey was subsequently conducted annually until and including 2003.
Since 2005, the survey will only be conducted every other year and will be given a new name, MOSAiCH (Measurement and Observation of Social Attitudes in Switzerland). The composition of the survey remains largely unchanged and includes a recurrent socio-political part, a thematic section that changes every time, two ISSP modules and a detailed socio-demographic section.
It remains an important objective of this project to provide the Swiss researchers with a dataset that enables both spatially and temporally comparative analyses.

The ESS survey (European Social Survey, http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org) emerged from the need to obtain comparative data in Europe on a number of issues of political science, sociology, social psychology, mass communication or economics. The ESS is a study introduced in 2002 and replicated every two years. This is the fifth edition of the study in Switzerland. The ESS provides indicators on the practices and representations of the Swiss population, making it possible to compare them with European countries and to observe the evolution over time. The 2010 edition focuses on the image of police and justice as well as the relationship between work and family.

Named MOSAiCH since 2005, this project carries out the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) and Eurobarometer surveys in Switzerland every second year. The survey is designed to allow comparative analyses both geographically and over time. The composition of the questions remains largely unchanged and includes a recurrent socio-political part, two ISSP modules, a wave-specific topic initiated by the Swiss researchers and a detailed socio-demographic part. See also description under study "MOSAiCH 2011" and on the following website http://www2.unil.ch/fors/spip.php?rubrique136&lang=en.

The specific modules of the 2011 edition include:
- ISSP 2010: Environment III
- ISSP 2011: Health I (especially health policy)
- Additional international questions ISSP 2010 and 2011
- Additional Swiss questions on the environment (partly from the Swiss Environmental Survey 2007 carried out by ETH Zurich)
- Trust in institutions, Swiss politics and attitude towards Europe - Socio-demographic questions
- Additional questions: survey climate, telephony

The ESS survey (European Social Survey, http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org) emerged from the need to obtain comparative data in Europe on a number of issues of political science, sociology, social psychology, mass communication or economics. The ESS is a study introduced in 2002 and replicated every two years. This is the fifth edition of the study in Switzerland. The ESS provides indicators on the practices and representations of the Swiss population, making it possible to compare them with European countries and to observe the evolution over time. The 2010 edition focuses on the image of police and justice as well as the relationship between work and family.

Named MOSAiCH since 2005, this project carries out the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) and Eurobarometer surveys in Switzerland every second year. The survey is designed to allow comparative analyses both geographically and over time. The composition of the questions remains largely unchanged and includes a recurrent socio-political part, two ISSP modules, a wave-specific topic initiated by the Swiss researchers and a detailed socio-demographic part. See also description under study "MOSAiCH 2011" and on the following website http://www2.unil.ch/fors/spip.php?rubrique136&lang=en.

The specific modules of the 2011 edition include:
- ISSP 2010: Environment III
- ISSP 2011: Health I (especially health policy)
- Additional international questions ISSP 2010 and 2011
- Additional Swiss questions on the environment (partly from the Swiss Environmental Survey 2007 carried out by ETH Zurich)
- Trust in institutions, Swiss politics and attitude towards Europe - Socio-demographic questions
- Additional questions: survey climate, telephony

Since 1999, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) has supported Switzerland's participation in international surveys. SIDOS is responsible for their implementation.
In autumn 1999 the first survey "Eurobarometer in Switzerland" was launched. This survey includes questions from the Eurobarometer survey of the European Commission, a specific Swiss socio-political part and a socio-demographic part. Since 2000, the questions from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) were added. This survey was subsequently conducted annually until and including 2003.
Since 2005, the survey will only be conducted every other year and will be given a new name, MOSAiCH (Measurement and Observation of Social Attitudes in Switzerland). The composition of the survey remains largely unchanged and includes a recurrent socio-political part, a thematic section that changes every time, two ISSP modules and a detailed socio-demographic section.
It remains an important objective of this project to provide the Swiss researchers with a dataset that enables both spatially and temporally comparative analyses.

All social surveys suffer from different types of errors, of which one of the most studied is non-response bias. Non-response bias is a systematic error that occurs because individuals differ in their accessibility and propensity to participate in a survey according to their own characteristics as well as those from the survey itself. The extent of the problem heavily depends on the correlation between response mechanisms and key survey variables. However, non-response bias is difficult to measure or to correct for due to the lack of relevant data about the whole target population or sample. In this paper, non-response follow-up surveys are considered as a possible source of information about non-respondents. Non-response follow-ups, however, suffer from two methodological issues: they themselves operate through a response mechanism that can cause potential non-response bias, and they pose a problem of comparability of measure, mostly because the survey design differs between main survey and non-response follow-up. In order to detect possible bias, the survey variables included in non-response surveys have to be related to the mechanism of participation, but not be sensitive to measurement effects due to the different designs. Based on accumulated experience of four similar non-response follow-ups, we studied the survey variables that fulfill these conditions. We differentiated socio-demographic variables that are measurement-invariant but have a lower correlation with non-response and variables that measure attitudes, such as trust, social participation, or integration in the public sphere, which are more sensitive to measurement effects but potentially more appropriate to account for the non-response mechanism. Our results show that education level, work status, and living alone, as well as political interest, satisfaction with democracy, and trust in institutions are pertinent variables to include in non-response follow-ups of general social surveys. - See more at: ...

"All social surveys suffer from different types of errors, of which one of the most studied is non-response bias. Non-response bias is a systematic error that occurs because individuals differ in their accessibility and propensity to participate in a survey according to their own characteristics as well as those from the survey itself. The extent of the problem heavily depends on the correlation between response mechanisms and key survey variables. However, non-response bias is difficult to measure or to correct for due to the lack of relevant data about the whole target population or sample. In this paper, non-response follow-up surveys are considered as a possible source of information about non-respondents. Non-response follow-ups, however, suffer from two methodological issues: they themselves operate through a response mechanism that can cause potential non-response bias, and they pose a problem of comparability of measure, mostly because the survey design differs between main survey and non-response follow-up. In order to detect possible bias, the survey variables included in non-response surveys have to be related to the mechanism of participation, but not be sensitive to measurement effects due to the different designs. Based on accumulated experience of four similar non-response follow-ups, we studied the survey variables that fulfill these conditions. We differentiated socio-demographic variables that are measurement-invariant but have a lower correlation with non-response and variables that measure attitudes, such as trust, social participation, or integration in the public sphere, which are more sensitive to measurement effects but potentially more appropriate to account for the non-response mechanism. Our results show that education level, work status, and living alone, as well as political interest, satisfaction with democracy, and trust in institutions are pertinent variables to include in non-response follow-ups of general social surveys." (author's abstract)