Large-Scale Survey Analyses through Eurobarometer

Abstract

To ascertain the validity of the previous individualized interview section, some longitudinal, quantitatively, and qualitatively analyzed data from the EU’s Eurobarometer survey provides an aggregate look at the current state of transnational identity development among EU citizens. As an accompanying statistical instrument to the previous analysis, this section supports the generalization of identity-related macroprocesses in the EU. Data taken from the Eurobarometer archives has been widely used in the literature to test theories and hypotheses of public opinion formation in the EU, but few have examined country data comparatively. As an evolving tool, these investigations have been modified over the years to respond to the needs of researchers and the Commission itself. For example, the identity-related question in this survey has changed from the one originally posed in 1979 asking respondents to hierarchically order their loyalty to town, region, country, and the EC; the question utilized in this section inquires if people consider themselves as only national, or partially or fully European.¹