Belgian National Election Study 2014

Similar to the previous General Election Studies, the 2014 General Election Study Belgium (seventh study) or the Belgian National Election Study (BNES 2014) focuses on general political attitudes and behavior. Data has been collected on political information and knowledge, perceptions of political bodies such as parties, and perceptions of problems and important issues. Other questions deal with party identification, party preferences, feelings of political efficacy, and the nature and extent of political participation. Perceptions of social class and (economic) well-being, authoritarian attitudes, attitudes to immigrant workers, political corruption and the environment are some of the other areas investigated in this study. Extensive demographic data on respondents and their families have also been collected. The General Election Study Belgium / Belgian National Election Study (BNES 2014) has many objectives. First of all, it is intended to show a cross-section of political attitudes and behaviour of Belgians after each General Election. Second, in order to study possible developments in political attitudes and behaviour, Belgian General Election Study / BNES 2014 requires a longitudinal character, similar to some other European Election Studies. The third objective is to maximise the relationship with current theoretical research in different scientific disciplines such as political science, sociology, and social psychology. A final objective is to develop comparative research between the different regions and communities of Belgium, as well as with other countries. After the face-to-face at home interview the respondents were asked to fill out a written questionnaire and to send it back to the University of Leuven. The so-called Dillman method for postal surveys was applied. This part is called the ‘drop-off’. The drop-off codebook and drop-off dataset are integrated in the general codebook and dataset.