Methodology

The methodological design consists of a broad series of online public opinion surveys in 18 countries. The survey will be repeated at least 4 times in every country, with a frequency ranging from 1 per week to 1 every other week. The number of respondents is expected to be panelized with an attrition rate not exceeding 40% between each wave. The questionnaire will take no more than 15 minutes to complete in order to satisfy budgetary constraints. At the time of writing, IPSOS is the preferred pollster operator due to its international expertise and competitive financial terms. However, each country leader is free to select another pollster provided that the chosen organization guarantees both consistent methods and responsiveness in terms of deliverables (data and technical report).

The selection of 18 countries (this number may be revised upwards should extra revenue become available) was made on the bases of two criteria: variety of pandemic diffusion and nature of anti-COVID-19 recommendations made by public authorities. These countries were also chosen as a result of the prompt response to the crisis by well-reputed scholars in their respective academic domain who are familiar with international comparative surveys.

Surveys

All surveys are run through CAWI (Computer-assisted web interviewing) on samples going from 2,000 respondents to 1,000 resp. Stratification technique is done according to AGE, SEX, REGION, OCCUPATION. In some countries (as in Africa), languages and ethnicity may be used.

The basic design implies a 4-wave structure. Accordingly, the pollster has to interview in priority first respondents (with an expected rate of attrition by 30%) allowing to expect a panelized dataset for each country.

An additional survey will be made in the case of France at the end of the confinement period on a large sample (N=10,000 people) to get deeper knowledge on socio-demographics, values, and social cohesion of respondents.

For each survey, at least 60% of the questionnaire is similar from one country to another one, leaving room to address specific questions related to the context of the country.

Countries

CountriesNb of wavesSample
France15 waves2,000 people
Italy4 waves1,000 people
Germany4 waves1,000 people
UK4 waves1,000 people
Austria4 waves1,000 people
Sweden3 waves1,000 people
Poland3 waves1,000 people
Canada3 waves1,000 people
USA4 waves2,000 people
New-Zealand3 waves1,000 people
Australia3 waves1,000 people
French Overseas*2 waves800-1,000 people
South Africa3 waves1,000 people
Nigeria3 waves1,000 people
Niger2 waves1,000 people
Egypt3 waves1,000 people
Morocco3 waves1,000 people
Ivory Coast2 waves800 people
Senegal2 waves1,000 people
Argentina2 waves1,000 people
Brazil3 waves1,000 people
* (New-Caledonia, Mayotte, Reunion)

Map of countries under investigation

Main modules

  • Compliance with public recommendations
  • Perceptions of the virus as a threat
  • Change of behaviour during the lock-down / confinement / economic recession
  • Measurements of individual well-being / trust / quality of life
  • Social cohesion and social isolation
  • Preferences for public intervention / Welfare state at the national and local level of government (in particular for decentralized countries)
  • Partisan proximity and ideological preferences
  • Willingness to contribute to the public good (fight against the pandemic) / increased taxation
  • Attitudes towards cooperation vs. isolationism
  • Measure of risk-aversion on policy issues
  • Issue salience and policy preferences (in terms of budget spending)
  • Individual values (open vs. closed society / cultural and economic liberalism vs. conservatism)