Euro-Barometer 30: Immigrants and Out-groups in Western Europe, October-November, 1988

Abstract

The Eurobarometer (EB) survey series is a unique programme of cross-national and cross-temporal comparative social science research. Since the early seventies representative national samples in all European Union (EU) (formerly the European Community (EC)) member states have been simultaneously interviewed in the spring and autumn of each year. Starting with EB 34.1 (autumn 1990), separate supplementary surveys on special issues have been conducted under almost every EB number. The EB is designed to provide regular monitoring of public social and political attitudes in the EU through specific trend questions. More information about the series may be found on the Zentralarchiv fuer Empirische Sozialforschung (ZA - Central Archive for Empirical Social Research, University of Cologne) Eurobarometer Survey Series web pages.

Background Work on European survey series began in early 1970, when the Commission of the European Community sponsored simultaneous surveys of the EC. These surveys were designed to measure public awareness of, and attitudes toward, the Common Market and other EC institutions, in complementary fashion. They also probed the goals given top priority for each respondent's nation. These concerns have remained a central part of the EC's research efforts - which were carried forward in the summer of 1971 with another six-nation survey that gave special attention to agricultural problems. The nine EC member countries were then surveyed again on the same topic areas in September 1973. After 1973, the surveys took on a somewhat broader scope in content as well as in geographical coverage, with measures of subjective satisfaction and the perceived quality of life becoming standard features of the EC public opinion surveys.

Over time, the member states of the EC/EU have increased in number, and the coverage of the EB surveys has widened accordingly. In 1974, nine countries were surveyed: France, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland and Luxembourg. Greece has been included since the autumn 1980 survey (EB 14) onwards, Portugal and Spain since autumn 1985 (EB 24), the former German Democratic Republic since autumn 1990 (EB 34), Finland since the spring of 1993 (EB 39), and Sweden and Austria since the autumn of 1994 (EB 42). Norway has been included in some surveys since 1991, from EB 36 onwards. In 2004, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joined the EU, and in 2007, Bulgaria and Romania (some of these countries participated in the Candidate Countries Eurobarometer survey series (see under GN 33343) before full accession). Some surveys are also conducted in Turkey, and in the Turkish Cypriot Community (Northern Cyprus).

The Eurobarometer public opinion surveys are conducted on behalf of and co-ordinated by the European Commission, DG Press and Communication - Opinion Polls Sector (European Commission Public Opinion Analysis). Special topic modules are carried out at the request of the responsible EU Directorate General. Main Topics: This round of Euro-Barometer surveys investigated life satisfaction, union membership, smoking habits, knowledge and views regarding cancer, views on the importance of NATO and certain national problems, attitudes towards democracy and individual liberties, attitudes toward immigrants and out-groups (i.e. people of another nationality, race, religion, culture, or social class), and knowledge and attitudes toward European Community institutions and policies, including the Common Agricultural Policy and the creation of a single European market in 1992. Respondents were also asked to name current topics and events most important for them and to state whether or not certain causes, such as the protection of wildlife and the promotion of world peace were worth taking risks and making sacrifices for. Questions on political party preferences asked respondents which party they felt the closest to, how they voted in their country's last general election, how they would vote if a general election were held tomorrow, and how they planned to vote in the June 1989 elections for the European Parliament. The survey also gauged the respondents' perceptions of the general attitude of each country's political parties towards the European Community. The enquiry into out-groups asked respondents to identify groups that came to mind when they thought of people of another nationality , race, religion, culture, or social class. Respondents were asked if they counted any out-group members amongst their friends, and if any of these persons worked at their place of employment or lived in their neighbourhoods. Additional questions asked respondents if they were disturbed by the presence of these out-groups and if they thought that these groups exploited social welfare benefits, increased unemployment, caused delinquency and violence, affected property prices, or reduced the level of education in schools. In West Germany, France, Great Britain and the Netherlands, respondents were queried about their feelings and attitudes towards specific out-groups: Southern Europeans, North Africans, Turks, Black Africans, Asians, Southeast Asians, West Indians, Jews, Surinamers, and Northern Europeans. The section on cancer queried respondents about their knowledge of the causes of cancer and medical recommendations for its early detection and prevention, and asked respondents if they followed or intended to follow those recommendations. Additional information was gathered on family income, home ownership, number of persons and children under 15 residing in the home, size of locality, region of residence, occupation of the head of household, and the respondent's age, sex, occupation, education, religion, religiosity, subjective social class standing, and left-right political self-placement.