The Danish Value Survey, cross-sectional 1981-2008

This study is based on the Danish contribution to an international, comparative survey research programme: The European Values Survey (EVS) and World Values Survey (WVS) which have been carried out in a number of countries since 1981 using standardized questionnaires. The purpose of the programme is to measure the values of the population of different European countries. Several topics have been included in the survey. This study is a cross sectional study for the years 1981 to 2008. This far Denmark has participated in four rounds of EVS/WVS: The first survey was carried out in 1981 with the participation of 26 countries (DDA-00829). The second survey was carried out in 1990 with the participation of 40 countries (DDA-01523). The third survey was carried out in 1999 (DDA-05837) and the fourth in 2008 (DDA-21432). Denmark did not participate in the survey carried out in 1995. What makes this data so exceptional and extensive is that the data from the different countries are comparable and collected over a long period of time. The Value Survey includes a broad spectrum of values but is particularly focused on values regarding: - Religion - Work - Politics -Family - Overall morality This makes it possible to formulate hypotheses regarding the individual topics as well as the overall value system. The questions can be seen as belonging to two main themes: 1: The change and character of the values in the individual sectors. These changes can be connected to the development in different societal institutions. 2: The differences in the development of values in different groups of the population. In both cases the themes can be examined in a Danish context or through comparison with other countries.