Since its foundation, Eurofound has built a strong knowledge base around living and working conditions in the European Union. A key task of the Agency involves monitoring developments in the Member States over time, for which it has developed three recurrent probability-based EU-wide surveys that provide high-quality data.
Representative samples
Coverage of all EU Member States as well as (potential) candidate countries and often Norway and Switzerland
Cross-country comparability
Multiple waves, enabling time-series analysis
Developed in close cooperation with Eurofound’s tripartite stakeholders and experts in the field
Questionnaires covering a wide range of topics designed to meet European policy needs
Questionnaires built on an inter-disciplinary scientific basis
Elaborate strategy for quality assurance
Timely availability of results, in policy-relevant reports, online data visualisation and microdata.
The aim of Eurofound's survey work is to provide high quality information on the quality of living and working conditions in Europe. In order to realise this goal each of the surveys targets a different population to get specific information.
The European Working Conditions Survey questions workers to gain insight on the quality of work and employment.
The European Company Survey targets managers and employee representatives in companies to gather information on workplace practices.
The European Quality of Life Survey interviews European citizens to get a perspective on living conditions and perceptions of quality of life.
Despite these differences in terms of target population, Eurofound aims to harmonise survey methodology whenever possible, to ensure that lessons learned in one survey are implemented in the others.
As with all research projects both Eurofound stakeholders and experts in the relevant field are involved in the development, implementation and evaluation of every wave of each survey, ensuring their relevance for European and national level policy makers and social partners.
Through expert involvement in questionnaire development, as well as the involvement of our national level experts in the translation process, Eurofound aims to ensure that all survey questions capture the real-world phenomena they are intended to capture (validity).
Through carefully selecting representative samples, choosing the most suitable mode of administering the questionnaires using state-of-the-art technology, recruiting experienced interviewers and providing comprehensive training for interviewing and coding, as well as through minute checking of the collected data, sophisticated weighting, and appropriate analysis Eurofound aims to ensure the consistency of survey measurements (reliability).
Eurofound’s commitment to producing high quality information is further shown in its quality assurance strategy for surveys.
Regardless of whether the target population of a survey are European citizens, workers or establishments, it is not feasible to collect information from all members of that population. A sample of respondents is chosen to be as representative as possible of the total population.
Eurofound aims to use sampling frames of the highest possible quality. In each country, it tries to find a register which covers at least 95% of the target population. For the ECS these registers preferably contain contact information of establishments and otherwise of companies. For the EWCS and the EQLS the registers usually contain address information of households and sometimes of individuals. In the EWCS and EQLS, when no such register is available, a list of possible respondents is generated through a so-called ‘random route’ procedure.
Eurofound aims to draw samples that are large enough to give valid results on the level of individual countries and that reflect the distribution of the European population well enough to enable generalisations to Europe as a whole. The first aim requires that the sample size on a country level is at least 1000 respondents, reducing the margin of error to an acceptable level. The second aim is the reason for selecting bigger samples in bigger countries, as done in the most recent EWCS and EQLS.
Sometimes it is necessary to ask open-ended questions i.e. questions that are not directly answerable by a pre-determined set of responses. This may be the case for sector, for example. The interviewer will first note the given answer in all detail and later on assign it to the appropriate category in the Europe-wide statistical classification of economic activities (NACE).
Coding will typically have to be applied for open-ended questions related to income, the respondents’ educational level (via ISCED), as well as the region they are living in (via NUTS).
Once the fieldwork phase is completed, the datasets have to be weighted to compensate for various possible causes of imbalance in the sample. For example, different people have a different probability of being selected for the survey has to be taken into account statistically. The bigger the unit (household/company) people are living or working in, the smaller their chances of being interviewed. Also, variations in the level of willingness to participate in a survey may result in the under-representation of certain respondent groups. The differences between countries in the size of their workforce, are not (fully) reflected in the sample size in each country so weighting is used to ensure that larger countries weigh heavier in the EU level results.
The European Labour Force Survey (LFS) is frequently used as source of reference data for judging the extent to which the data is representative of the population.
The methodology is adapted to the specific requirements of each survey - more information is available on the individual survey pages.
Surveys have never been the only source of large-scale, quantitative data, and discussions about better integrating data from other sources in social research have been ongoing for quite some time. However, in recent decades, with the increasing connectedness of individuals and organisations to the internet, the amount of data available from sources such as web applications, mobile devices, sensors, video streams and social media has exploded.
In this context, Eurofound is exploring the potential use of big data to complement and contextualise the data from its existing research efforts, its surveys in particular. The project currently focuses on three strands, and this work is discussed in three working papers.
Questionnaires for Eurofound’s three pan-European surveys – EWCS, EQLS and ECS – are available for download in a variety of languages. Datasets for the various survey editions are also available.
All questionnaires are made available upon completion of the survey fieldwork.
Eurofound’s survey datasets are made available no later than two years after fieldwork completion. The Eurofound datasets are stored with the UK Data Service(opens in new tab)This link opens in a new tab (UKDS) in Essex, UK and promoted online via their website. The data are available free of charge to those who intend to use them for non-commercial purposes. Requests for use for commercial purposes will be forwarded to Eurofound for authorisation.
By registering with the UKDS, users are ensured of accessing the latest version and receiving information regarding important updates. To download the data, first register online with the UKDS. If you are not from a UK university or college, please apply for a UK Data Archive username(opens in new tab)This link opens in a new tab or consult the page on how to access data.
Once registered, to find Eurofound data, type ‘Eurofound' in the ‘Search data’ field. A list of Eurofound's surveys should appear, then click on the name of the relevant survey for more information and download using your username and password.
Eurofound makes dedicated online data visualisations available for selected surveys. They can be found by navigating to the individual survey round.
Aiming to ensure high-quality survey data, Eurofound complies with commonly agreed standards for its survey methodology and procedures. Eurofound follows the European Statistical System (ESS) quality criteria in the survey design, implementation and quality assessment.
In all surveys, Eurofound applies a set of quality criteria.
Relevance: Ensuring that the survey meets current and potential user needs
Accuracy: Having data for which the estimates are as close to the true values as possible. In practical terms, this is done by minimising any errors in the survey
Timeliness and punctuality: Disseminating data as close to the reference period as possible and following the timetable set for the data release
Accessibility and clarity: Enabling the users to access the survey findings and data easily and offering them the necessary background information for interpreting the findings
Coherence and comparability: Reviewing the data in comparison with other related data originating from other sources and assessing whether the differences are attributable to differences between true values. Establishing comparability of data across geographical areas and over time.
Eurofound aims to continuously improve the quality and cost-efficiency of each survey. Quality criteria, and the necessary steps in the process to meet these criteria, are set out both in the tender specifications and in the detailed planning of the survey process. Procedures are established for checking all aspects of the survey preparation, fieldwork and data processing, and for collecting comprehensive documentation of how the quality criteria are met.
Eurofound regularly monitors the impact of the surveys on policymaking and the use of the data in research. It gathers information on how the surveys meet user needs. Furthermore, the Agency commissions and publishes external quality assessments of the data and the processes once a survey has been completed.
Eurofound’s main contractor and its national partners are required to abide by the MRS and ESOMAR professional codes of conduct which are designed to meet legislation and promote high-quality research. The codes cover, among others, respect for the respondent and confidentiality of the data. The contractor also adheres to the ISO standards relating to surveys.
Interviewers working on Eurofound surveys are required to comply with ethical and confidentiality rules when conducting interviews. The same rules are developed for each country in order to ensure harmonised fieldwork. Data are collected and recorded according to interviewer training and project instructions, and interviewers must ensure that survey participation from respondents is based on voluntary informed consent.
Information on Eurofound’s surveys is provided to its in-house Data Protection Officer to ensure compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union. Data transferred to the UKDS is fully anonymised to protect the confidentiality of respondents.
The methodology and questionnaires used in Eurofound’s pan-European surveys are freely available for use by other researchers, subject to certain copyright conditions, and many have expressed an interest in using our materials or collaborating with Eurofound.
In recent editions of the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), national governments in Belgium, France, Slovenia and Spain have funded an increase in the sample size at their own cost in order to carry out more in-depth analysis. Both Norway and Switzerland have been involved in the EWCS for a number of years.
Similarly, Italy’s National Institute for Public Policy Analysis (INAPP) funded an increase in the sample size for Italy for the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) in 2016.
Under the Memorandum of Understanding with the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), Eurofound has provided EU-OSHA with useful insight into the development of survey methodology and survey design. EU-OSHA applied the methodology from Eurofound’s European Company Survey (ECS) in its 2009 European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER). The teams working on the ECS and ESENER are in regular contact to ensure lessons learned on each of the projects are shared between the agencies. The ECS 2019 was carried out in partnership with the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop). The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) uses EWCS data for its Gender Equality Index. Eurofound has also supported the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) in its survey preparation.
The European Commission (DG NEAR) supports the inclusion of the EU candidate and potential candidate countries in Eurofound’s surveys.
The EWCS questionnaire and methodology are a source of inspiration for other surveys in the world: for example, the American Working Conditions Survey, the South Korea Working Conditions Survey and the Israel social survey 2016. Some countries in Central America, as well as Argentina, Chile and Uruguay use adapted EWCS questionnaires in carrying out national surveys. A limited number of EWCS questions have been included in the 2016 China Urban Labour Survey.
To overcome the lack of reliable data and information on working conditions in developing and transition countries, Eurofound and the International Labour Organization (ILO) have joined forces to develop projects on the monitoring and analysis of working conditions globally.
Eurofound has collaborated with the ILO on a pioneering project on monitoring working conditions around the world which analyses developments in job quality and quality of working life in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
Research report: Working conditions in a global perspective
Both organisations have also developed a standard methodology for a Global Working Conditions Survey (GWCS) to create a national-level open tool adaptable to fit best the needs of the country tripartite actors, which is an essential part of the ILO’s Decent Work Country Programmes.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has used Eurofound’s European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) questionnaire in the past to carry out surveys on quality of life in Croatia and North Macedonia.
Eurofound has also contributed to the development of international statistical guidelines on measuring job quality and working life through surveys. Examples include:
The EWCS is also used to monitor developments in job quality, for example in the Joint Assessment Framework of the European Commission, or the OECD’s work on job quality. Eurostat uses some EWCS questions to monitor quality of employment in Europe.
European Commission: Joint Employment Report(opens in new tab)This link opens in a new tab; Employment and Social developments in Europe(opens in new tab)This link opens in a new tab; Employment Performance Monitor(opens in new tab)This link opens in a new tab
OECD: Job quality(opens in new tab)This link opens in a new tab
Eurostat: Quality of employment(opens in new tab)This link opens in a new tab
In an international context, the EQLS provides a distinctive contribution due to its coverage of all the EU Member States, multifaceted information in one data set, as well as coverage of both the working and non-working population. EQLS data are part of several international monitoring initiatives:
Gender Equality Index by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) uses EQLS and EWCS data to cover the domain of time(opens in new tab)This link opens in a new tab
Active Aging Index, supported by the European Commission and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
Social Cohesion Radar (2013 and 2014) by the Bertelsmann Foundation
The EQLS has been an important source in both the research and public debate contributing to the development of the Commission’s Beyond GDP agenda. It has also been used in the development of a set of Eurostat indicators on quality of life.
