New Democracies Barometer

The cross-national and longitudinal survey "New Democracies Barometer (NDB)" has been conducted in 1991 (NDB I), 1992 (NDB II), 1994 (NDB III), 1996 (NDB IV) and 1998 (NDB V) by the Austrian Paul Lazarsfeld-Society for Social Research (PLG) and is covering the following 11 countries: Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Romania, Ukraine and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. NDB questionnaire and information about the exact fieldwork dates and survey agencies is available by following the links.

The intention of the NDB surveys was to monitor the social, economic and political changes during transformation in Central and Eastern Europe. It is supported by grants form the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Culture and Science. The "Quality of the political system and current politics" is the topic of sub-scales of the New Democracies Barometer, containing questions about the quality of the governmental system, advantages and disadvantages of the democratic system versus the communist rule and the trust in institutions. Results from construct validation show if the sub-scales measure the same concept in all countries under investigation and reveal to which extent data of multinational cross-sectional surveys are comparable across time and countries.

In each country a stratified nationwide representative sample of about 1000 respondents is interviewed face-to-face. Fieldwork was carried out by established national institutes regularly conducting nationwide representative sample surveys in collaboration with Fessel&GfK, Vienna, and MITROPA, Vienna using ten national languages for fieldwork, for co-ordination English and German. The basic sampling procedure in each country follows ESOMAR principles of a multi-stage, random probability sample, in which the population is stratified regionally and within regions according to urban/rural divisions and town size. One hundred or more primary sampling units (PSU) are drawn. Each survey is integrated in a multinational data base for comparative analysis. The NDB mean gives an overall picture of how people across half a continent are responding to the common experience of the collapse the Communist system.

The primary data analysis was conducted by the two principal investigators of the NDB, Professor Richard Rose, International Scientific Advisor of the PLG (University of Strathclyde, Glasgow) and Christian W. Haerpfer, at that time Scientific Director of the PLG (Lecturer at the Department of Political Science at the University of Vienna and Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna). The international primary research team has been growing over time. Scientists involved in collaborative primary research have been William T. Mishler (University of Arizona, USA), Edward Page (University of Hull, UK), Wolfgang Seifert (Humboldt University Berlin, Germany), Wolfgang Zapf (Science Center Berlin and Free University Berlin, Germany) and Istvan György Toth (TARKI, Budapest).

NDB 1 - New Democracies Barometer 1; Year: 1991. Total: 6.214 interviews

1. Czech Republic: 660 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK – Prague; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A. Ulram. 2. Hungary: 1.019 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK – Budapest; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A. Ulram. 3. Poland: 1.193 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK – Warsaw; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A. Ulram. 4. Slovakia: 291 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK – Prague; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A.Ulram. 5. Slovenia: 1.049 interviews; Fieldwork by University of Ljubljana; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Niko Tos. 6. Bulgaria: 1.002 interviews; Fieldwork by Index; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Andrej Raitschev. 7. Romania: 1.000 interviews; Fieldwork by IRSOP; Fieldwork coordinator: Dr.Petre Datculsecu.

NDB 2 - New Democracies Barometer 2; Year: 1992. Total: 10.518 interviews

1. Czech Republic: 1.408 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK – Prague; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A. Ulram. 2. Hungary: 970 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK – Budapest; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A. Ulram. 3. Poland: 1.113 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK – Warsaw; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A. Ulram. 4. Slovakia: 625 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK – Prague; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A.Ulram. 5. Slovenia: 1.013 interviews; Fieldwork by University of Ljubljana; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Niko Tos. 6. Bulgaria: 1.164 interviews; Fieldwork by Gallup Bulgaria; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Andrej Raitschev. 7. Croatia: 1.000; Fieldwork by CEMA-MITROPA Zagreb; Fieldwork coordinator: Dr. Karl Blecha. 8. Romania: 1.000 interviews; Fieldwork by IRSOP; Fieldwork coordinator: Dr.Petre Datculsecu. 9. Belarus: 1.225 interviews; Fieldwork by University of Minsk; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor David Rotman. 10. Ukraine: 1.000 interviews; Fieldwork by Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kiev; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Nikolai Churilov.

NDB 3 - New Democracies Barometer 3; Year: 1994. Total: 14.622 interviews

1. Czech Republic: 1.167 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK – Prague; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A. Ulram. 2. Hungary: 1.060 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK – Budapest; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A. Ulram. 3. Poland: 1.057 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK – Warsaw; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A. Ulram. 4. Slovakia: 574 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK – Prague; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A.Ulram. 5. Slovenia: 1.023 interviews; Fieldwork by Department of Sociology, University of Ljubljana; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Niko Tos. 6. Bulgaria: 1.139 interviews; Fieldwork by Gallup Bulgaria; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Andrej Raitschev. 7. Croatia: 1.000; Fieldwork by MITROPA Zagreb; Fieldwork coordinator: Dr. Karl Blecha. 8. Romania: 1.000 interviews; Fieldwork by IRSOP; Fieldwork coordinator: Dr.Petre Datculsecu. 9. Belarus: 2.067 interviews; Fieldwork by Department of Sociology, University of Minsk; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor David Rotman. 10. Ukraine: 1.000 interviews; Fieldwork by Socis-Gallup, Kiev; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Nikolai Churilov. 11. Russian Federation: 3.535 interviews; Fieldwork by MNENIE Moscow; Fieldwork coordinator: Dr.Grigori A.Pashkov.

NDB 4 - New Democracies Barometer 4; Year: 1996. Total 10.441 interviews

1. Czech Republic: 978 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK – Prague; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A. Ulram. 2. Hungary: 1.067 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK – Budapest; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A. Ulram. 3. Poland: 1.057 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK – Warsaw; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A. Ulram. 4. Slovakia: 1.117 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK – Prague; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A.Ulram. 5. Slovenia: 1.000 interviews; Fieldwork by University of Ljubljana; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Niko Tos. 6. Bulgaria: 1.184 interviews; Fieldwork by Gallup Bulgaria; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Andrej Raitschev. 7. Croatia: 1.000; Fieldwork by MITROPA Zagreb Fieldwork coordinator: Dr. Karl Blecha. 8. Romania: 1.000 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK Romania; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A.Ulram. 9. Belarus: 1.000 interviews; Fieldwork by University of Minsk; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor David Rotman. 10. Ukraine: 1.000 interviews; Fieldwork by Socis-Gallup, Kiev; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Nikolai Churilov.

NDB 5 - New Democracies Barometer 5; Year: 1998. Total 11.595 interviews

1. Czech Republic: 1.017 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK – Prague; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A. Ulram. 2. Hungary: 1.017 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK – Hungaria; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A. Ulram. 3. Poland: 1.141 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK – Polonia; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A. Ulram. 4. Slovakia: 1.117 interviews; Fieldwork by KMG Bratislava; Fieldwork coordinator: Dr.Karl Blecha. 5. Slovenia: 1.000 interviews; Fieldwork by PR+PM Maribor; Fieldwork coordinator: Dr. Znuderl. 6. Bulgaria: 1.184 interviews; Fieldwork by GfK Bulgaria; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Peter A.Ulram. 7. Croatia: 1.000; Fieldwork by MITROPA Zagreb; Fieldwork coordinator: Dr. Karl Blecha. 8. Romania: 1.000 interviews; Fieldwork by CSOP Bucharest; Fieldwork coordinator: Dr.Karl Blecha. 9. Belarus: 1.000 interviews; Fieldwork by University of Minsk; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor David Rotman. 10. Ukraine: 1.161 interviews; Fieldwork by Socis-Gallup, Kiev; Fieldwork coordinator: Professor Nikolai Churilov. 11. Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; Fieldwork by ARGUMENT, Belgrade; Fieldwork coordinator: Dr.Zdenka Milijsevic.

Online Analisys

Online analyses based on data from NDB I to V can be carried out on the homepage of the Center for the Study of Public Policy at the University of Strathclyde, which also provides information about the five waves of NDB research. This tool has been established by the Centre for the Study of Public Policy in close cooperation with TARKI Budapest.

NDB-Archive