The first edition of data and documentation for European Social Survey (ESS) Round 8 (2016) has been published.
It means that data from the eighth iteration of the survey is now available from 18 countries who undertook fieldwork in 2016.

The 18 countries included in this initial release are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.

Round 8 of the ESS included questions asked in every round since 2002 on topics including crime, democracy and politics, human values, immigration, media consumption, national and ethnic identity, perceived discrimination, religion, social exclusion, social trust/trust in institutions, subjective wellbeing and socio-demographics.
The new data offers an insight into public attitudes towards welfare either side of the economic crisis, allowing academics to study the consequences on welfare attitudes of a deep economic downturn.
It includes new items added to the 2008 questionnaire on the future of welfare, including an item on the introduction of a universal basic income.

A completely new module of questions was also included measuring public attitudes towards climate change and energy. The module covers beliefs on climate change, concerns about climate change and energy security, personal norms, efficacy and trust and energy preferences.
Round 8 data on this subject should offer an insight into European perceptions of climate change for the first time in the history of the ESS.

View or download ESS data here: <a href="http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/data/download.html?r=8
" target="_blank">http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/data/download.html?r=8