Integrated Values Surveys (IVS) 1981-2022
The European Value Study (EVS) and the World Value Survey (WVS) are two large-scale, cross-national, and repeated cross-sectional longitudinal survey research programs. They include a large number of questions, which have been replicated since the early eighties.
The IVS is constructed from the EVS and WVS trend files
Both organizations have published the current EVS and WVS trend files in close cooperation. The EVS archive (GESIS) has been responsible for generating the EVS Trend File 1981-2017. The WVS archive (JDS Madrid) has been responsible for generating the WVS Trend File 1981-2022. From the two data files, it is easy for data users to construct the Integrated Values Surveys 1981-2022 data file, which contains the five waves of the EVS and the seven waves of the WVS.
Source data files
- EVS (2022): EVS Trend File 1981-2017. GESIS Data Archive, Cologne. ZA7503 Data file Version 3.0.0, doi:10.4232/1.14021.
- World Values Survey Trend File (1981-2022) Cross-National Data-Set. Madrid, Spain & Vienna, Austria: JD Systems Institute & WVSA Secretariat. Data File Version 3.0.0, doi:10.14281/18241.23.
EVS and WVS distribute the trend files through their website and retrieval systems. Thus, regular information on the source data files, errata and version history, and documentation are provided here on the EVS website and the WVS website.
The new concept of the EVS and WVS trend files
A new approach has been agreed to transform the former large EVS and WVS longitudinal trend files, which contained almost all variables of the EVS and WVS waves respectively, into leaner and easier-to-use files. Both EVS and WVS trend files are based on the updated Common EVS/WVS Dictionary (2022). It contains only those variables/questions that have been replicated by EVS and/or WVS since the early 1980s. In order to identify the trend variables within EVS or WVS and across both projects, two inclusion requirements were agreed upon:
- According to requirement 1, all variables that have been used at least twice in the EVS or twice in the WVS are included in the respective EVS or WVS trend file.
- According to requirement 2, all variables that have been used at least once in the EVS and once in the WVS are included in the respective EVS or WVS trend file.
The Common EVS/WVS Dictionary (2022) gives an overview of the EVS and WVS variables included in the Integrated Values Surveys 1981-2022 constructed after merging the EVS and WVS trend files. It informs about the correspondence of the variables to the five EVS waves and seven WVS waves as well as their compliance with the agreed inclusion requirements mentioned above.
The content of data files and the relation between them are depicted in the following table.
Composition of the IVS 1981-2022
| IVS | EVS Trend File | WVS Trend File | |
| Survey period | 1981-2022 | 1981-2021 | 1981-2022 |
| Number of waves | 7 | 5 | 7 |
| Number of cases | 663.965 | 224.434 | 439.531 |
| Number of variables | 838 | 635 | 728 |
| Countries and territories | 118 | 49 | 108 |
| Number of Surveys | 464 | 160 | 304 |
Access to Data and Documentation of the Joint EVS/WVS