The International Social Survey Programme

The ISSP is a cross-national collaboration programme conducting annual surveys on diverse topics relevant to social sciences.

Established in 1984 by its founding members Australia, Germany, Great Britain and the US, the ISSP has since included members covering various cultures around the globe. Its institutional members, each of them representing one nation, consist of academic organizations, universities, or survey agencies. Since its foundation, over one million respondents have participated in the surveys of the ISSP.

As the surveys are designed for replication, they can be used for both cross-national and cross-time comparison laying the base for a vast range of substantial and methodological research. The ISSP regularly responds to current developments in social sciences by including new topics or developing new modules. All major decisions are made democratically – each country one vote.

To ensure highest standards in data quality, ISSP conducts comprehensive study monitoring and publishes details of how the national ISSP surveys are fielded in the participating countries. All collected data and documentation are available free of charge.

For further information please download the ISSP flyer.