Abstract:

The rapid development of sample survey research in all countries of Western Europe during the years since the end of World War II has not only given social scientists access to an immense body of new data for an under standing of their own societies, but also provided a basis for comparative cross-national analyses in fields never covered by official and institutional statistics of the traditional types. So far very few social scientists have tried to make use of this new source of information for purposes of comparative analysis across the countries of Western Europe