The political institutions of the European Community and of single nations are facing new challenges and changes in the 21st century. The European Social Survey poses the question of how this change is reflected in the thinking and behaviour of the various population groups within Europe. The Austrian sub-study also explores this question. What personal ideas do Austrians have about democracy and society in their country and in the European Union? The project idea of the ESS was developed by the European Science Foundation (ESF) and the European Social Survey includes population surveys in all participating countries. A uniform questionnaire on various problems of political and social coexistence (social and political trust, governance, morality, media, social and political values and attitudes, well-being, national identity) is used, which is supplemented by country-specific questions as well as changing focus topics. The country studies are conducted with the highest possible methodological standards of empirical survey research (translation, sampling, reliability and validity control by the Scientific Monitoring Committee). The ESS is designed as a time series; the surveys are to take place every two years. The first survey wave took place in 2002/2003 and focused on migration, citizenship and social participation. The second survey wave was in 2004/2005, the main focus of the ESS 2 was on health, economic morality, family and work. The third wave of the ESS took place in 2006/2007 with the topics life biography, well-being, satisfaction. The fourth wave of the ESS was in 2008/2009, the thematic focuses were welfare state, social policy, age discrimination. The main long-term objective of the European Social Survey (ESS) is to describe and explain the interaction between the changing political and economic institutions and the attitudes, beliefs and behaviour patterns of the populations of the respective countries. The additional Austrian questions include the areas of health, social status and housing conditions (questions H37 - H65, page 49 - 51 of the questionnaire).

Probability: Stratified

Face-to-face interview