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CARA's
Story |
Value Systems Study Group of the
Americas:
CARA's
Role in the Early Development of the World Values Survey (WVS)
In
1978, The European Values Systems Study Group was established in
Amsterdam. This project was a collaboration between social scientists
and theologians concerned with social, political, moral, and religious
value changes in Western Europe. The group developed a survey to
measure the attitudes, values, and behavior of national random samples
of the population in selected countries.
Many of these original researchers were Catholic and were concerned
about how traditional religious values had changed in Europe.
This early work included a focus on applied research. For
example, one of the original aims of the European Values Study (EVS)
was "to inform educational, social, corporate, and pastoral policy."
Although the study was initially focused on Western Europe, the
European Values Systems Study Group sought out a more globally
comparative framework and invited CARA in 1981 to create the Value
Systems Study Group of the Americas (VSSGA).
CARA's role in the project was to coordinate the project in the
Americas, seek funding for the project, and complete an analysis of the
survey data for the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The Gallup
Organization conducted the interviews for these nations. A
significant portion of the funding for the surveys in the Americas was
provided by several U.S. dioceses, more than 20 religious orders and
congregations, and several Catholic foundations.
Globally, between 1981 and 1984, polls were conducted in France, Great
Britain, Northern Ireland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark,
Belgium, Spain, Ireland, the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea,
Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Hungary, Australia, Norway, Sweden,
the Soviet Union, Iceland, and Finland. This first set of surveys
is the initial wave of what became The World Values Survey
(WVS).
These original studies have been followed by four additional waves of
the WVS in 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005. The most recent wave has
expanded to 62 countries. It is one of the most widely used
comparative surveys in existence.
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