Data Service Infrastructure for the Social Science and the Humanities (DASISH):

Improving Survey Quality in Cross-national Research

Eric HarrisonCity University London

Venice, April 2014

www.europeansocialsurvey.org

DASISH: What? Why?

Consortium of nineteen partners from five infrastructures (ESS, SHARE, CESSDA, CLARIN, DARIAH)

Series of work packages aiming to focus on common ground and pool expertise

Social science WP on Survey Quality: producing software to improve survey management, data collection and user documentation

Ultimate goal - interoperability

www.europeansocialsurvey.org

Three task sets

3.1. Software for improved coding of occupation (ESS: City)

3.2. Multi-language questionnaire development tool: in three parts (ESS: City)• Questionnaire design documentation databank• Translation tool and databank• Question databank

3.3. Fieldwork monitoring system (SHARE: MEA)

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www.europeansocialsurvey.org

3.1. Occupation Coding

To develop software for Europe-wide surveys to collect and code occupation data more accurately, consistently and cost-effectively

Key is to enable better coding at time of collection

Two directions in original bid:• CAPI tool allowing interviewer to select best match to

text from respondent• Web survey based occupation tree that was trialled in

the Euroccupations project

Open source code for use in different CAPI languages

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Progress and future

Colleagues at Warwick leading work to pilot Cascot International in selected countries

Colleagues at Tilburg pursuing related work on text matching and apps for handheld devices

Wider network of colleagues via InGRID project – database of job titles, skills and tasks

DASISH project concludes in December 2014

Horizon 2020: The work continues (we hope) with the aim of covering every ESS/SHARE country