Two institutions co-operate in the ISSP surveys in Spain: ASEP (Anàlisis Sociòlógicos, Económicos y Politicos) and CIS (Center for Sociological Research)

ASEP (Anàlisis Sociòlógicos, Económicos y Politicos)

ASEP is a private consulting firm, established in 1982, whose main purpose is social, economic and political research. 

ASEP has conducted a national monthly survey on Spanish public opinion since 1986 which includes time series data on consumers’ attitudes and behaviour, political attitudes and behaviour, mass media consumption, economics and questions on topical issues. 

Since 1990, ASEP has conducted a national monthly survey for CIRES (Centro de Investigaciones sobre la Realidad Social), a non-profit organisation sponsored by three financial entities: Fundación Banco Bilbao Vizcaya, Caja de Madrid and Bilbao-Bizkaia-Kutxa. Each survey includes time series data on more than 50 items, plus a module on an academic research topic. The datafiles are distributed each month free of charge (on request as discs) to more than 350 interested academic and public institutions in Spain and abroad. 

ASEP participates in a number of international projects, with the emphasis on academic and public opinion research.

CIS (Center for Sociological Research)

CIS is an autonomous state agency whose purpose is to study Spanish society, primarily through survey-based research. Its predecessor, the IOP, was founded in 1963. In 1977, the Center took its present physionomy and name. CIS conducts an average of fifty studies per year, mostly surveys, including a monthly Barometer to measure the public opinion impact of major social, economic and political events. The monographic surveys are conducted on a wide range of issues: youth, immigration, ways of life, law and order, political culture, electoral behaviour, etc. CIS participates in ongoing international projects, such as ISSP or NES, and has participated also in important demographic surveys sponsored by Eurostat and the UN. All the data from the more than 1200 CIS studies are deposited in its data bank, to which the public has access. 

In addition to its research activities, CIS publishes six book collections, a quarterly journal, Reis, and several programmes to encourage and promote social science research.