International Social Survey Programme: Religion IV - ISSP 2018

The International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) is a continuous programme of cross-national collaboration running annual surveys on topics important for the social sciences. The programme started in 1984 with four founding members - Australia, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States – and has now grown to almost 50 member countries from all over the world. As the surveys are designed for replication, they can be used for both, cross-national and cross-time comparisons. Each ISSP module focuses on a specific topic, which is repeated in regular time intervals. Please, consult the documentation for details on how the national ISSP surveys are fielded. The present study focuses on questions about religion and religious identity.<br>Assessment of personal happiness; satisfaction with relationships with family members; attitudes towards extramarital sex; attitudes towards homosexual relationships between adults; attitudes towards abortion if family has very low income; gender roles in marriage; institutional trust (parliament, business and industry, churches and religious organisations, courts and legal system, schools and educational system); attitudes towards the influence of religious leaders on voters; attitudes towards science and religion (too much trust in science and too little religious faith, more conflicts through religions than peace, intolerance of people with strong religious convictions); assessment of the power of churches and religious organisations in the country; acceptance of a person from different religion as spouse of a relative (social distance); attitudes towards freedom of expression for religious extremists in public meetings, on the Internet and in social media; doubt or firm belief in God (scale deism); past or present belief in God; belief in life after death, heaven, hell, religious miracles and supernatural powers of deceased ancestors; attitude towards a higher truth and the meaning of life (God concerns himself with human beings, people can do little to change life (fatalism), life is meaningful because God exists, life does not serve any purpose, own actions give meaning to life, own way in connecting with God without church or worship services); Opinion on gender equality in one´s own religion; religion of mother and father in the respondent´s childhood; religion the respondent raised in; frequency of church attendance by father and mother in the respondent´s childhood; personal frequency of church attendance at the age of 11-12; frequency of prayers; frequency of participation in church activities (apart from attending church services); read or listened to religious scriptures outside of church services in the last 12 months (e.g. Bible, Koran, Torah or other religious scriptures); shrine, altar or religious object (e.g. cross) in the respondent´s home; frequency of visiting a holy place (shrine, temple, church or mosque) for religious reasons; self-assessment of religiousness and spirituality; religion helps people to make friends and to gain comfort in difficult times; religions are a barrier to equality between women and men; opinion on the separation of state and religion (government should not interfere with attempts of religion to spread); opinion on the peaceful coexistence of people belonging to different religions; religion represents the past and not the future; religion is as relevant to life today as in the past; personal attitude towards different religious groups (Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, atheists or non-believers); self-assessment of health status.

Optional items (not in all countries): born-again experience; feelings about the Bible; new commitment to religion after a turning point; belief in lucky charms, fortune tellers, faith healers and horoscopes; decision criteria for personal actions (laws or religious principles); perceived threat of people belonging to different groups (Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, non-believers); people can be trusted vs. can´t be too careful in dealing with people; belief in reincarnation and Nirvana; country’s laws should not be based on religion.

Demography: sex; age; year of birth; years of full-time schooling; country specific highest completed degree of education; highest completed degree of education (derived from country specific degree) ; current or former employment status; hours worked weekly; employment relationship; supervision of other employees; number of other employees supervised; type of organisation: for-profit vs. non-profit and public vs. private; occupation (ISCO/ILO-08); main status; living in steady partnership; trade union membership; religious affiliation or denomination (country specific); groups of religious denomination (derived from country specific religion); attendance of religious services; top-bottom self-placement; vote participation in last general election; country specific party voted for in last general election; left-right scheme of party voted for in last general election (derived from country-specific parties); ethnic group 1 and 2 (country specific); household size; household composition: number of adults in the household; number of children above school entry age in the household; number of children below school age in the household; personal income (country specific); household income (country specific); legal partnership status; father´s and mother´s country of birth (migration background); place of living: urban – rural; region (country specific).

Information about spouse/ partner on: current or former employment status; hours worked weekly; employment relationship; supervision of other employees; occupation (ISCO/ILO-08); main employment status.

Additionally coded was: respondent-ID; case substitution flag; interview date (year, month, day); weight; mode of data-collection; country (ISO 3166, country/ Sample ISO 31666, country/ Sample Prefix ISO 3166); flag variable indicating partially completed cases.