ISSP-SSÖ

The Social Survey Austria is a survey program for monitoring changes in attitudes and value orientations in the Austrian population. The questionnaire consists of annual modules of the International Social Survey Program which are collected in around 45 countries, and one national part with questions on current social issues in Austria. The surveys are based on representative samples of the resident population in Austria aged 18 and older. By replicating questions and combining the SSÖ and ISSP, it is possible to examine development processes and social change in Austria both over time and in an international comparison. The surveys are complemented and enhanced by accompanying methodological studies.

The Department of Sociology at the University of Graz has been a member of the ISSP since 1985 and holds primary responsibility for conducting the ISSP surveys in Austria. Our Department also played a key role in establishing the SSÖ.  As part of an inter-university research cooperative, the SSÖ is jointly designed, implemented, and scientifically evaluated by sociologists from the Universities of Graz, Linz, Salzburg, and Vienna. As a result, the SSÖ also serves to foster networking within social science research in Austria.

Through close collaboration with the Austrian Social Science Data Archive (AUSSDA), the survey data is sustainably archived and made publicly accessible. The Austrian ISSP data is also integrated into international data sets at GESIS (Cologne). The SSÖ/ISSP data can be used free of charge by researchers and students across various disciplines, but also by educational institutions, media professionals, and other interested members of the general public.