The Australian Social and Political Observatory

AuSPO is a new interlocking web of Australia’s leading academic social and political surveys. Established in 2006, AuSPO aims to provide a unique and powerful ‘lens’ for analysing social and political life in Australia in a global context. AuSPO is comprised of a subset of interconnected research strands.

National Social Surveys: "Uniquely Australian Studies"

Australian Survey of Social Attitudes (AuSSA)

AuSSA has been conducted biennially since 2003. The survey is concerned with discovering patterns in the social attitudes and behaviour of Australians. It takes a special interest in producing reliable information that will speak to key national issues of the day, as well as enable Australia to contribute to key debates at the forefront of international social science research. AuSSA was fielded for the third time in 2007.

Research team: Deborah Mitchell (ANU), Timothy Phillips (ANU), Bruce Tranter (UTas), Juliet Clark (Deakin), Ken Reed (Deakin)

Next fielding: 2009

URL: http://aussa.anu.edu.au/

Australian Electoral Study (AES) and Australian Candidate Study (ACS)

AES and ACS is a unique companion pair of electoral surveys. They have been running since 1987, and are fielded in the immediate lead-up to a federal election. AES is a broad-based study of the Australian general public, investigating political attitudes and voting behaviour. ACS is more narrowly focussed on political elites, surveying federal electoral candidates from major political parties in Australia. ACS investigates the spread of candidate opinion on key electoral issues.

Research team: Ian McAllister (ANU), Clive Bean (QUT), Rachel Gibson (Leicester)

Next fielding: 2007

URL: http://assda.anu.edu.au/studies/D1079.html
http://assda.anu.edu.au/studies/D1081.html

International Social Surveys: "Australia Compared"

World Values Survey (WVS) and International Social Survey Programme (ISSP)

WVS and ISSP are continuing social surveys currently running in some 80 and 39 countries respectively. From their establishment in 1981 and 1984 in turn, each survey has been carried out in regular waves. This has enabled the collection of social survey data which allows researchers to find out (i) how social attitudes in Australia converge with and diverge from people in other countries, and (ii) whether changes in the patterning of social attitudes in Australia over time is similar to and different from other countries.

Australian representatives: Ann Evans (ANU), Deborah Mitchell (ANU), Ken Reed (Deakin)

Next Fielding: 2007 (ISSP) and 2010 (WVS)

URL: http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/
http://www.issp/org

Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES)

CSES is a research program involving election studies in over 50 countries. Through participation in CSES, researchers are able to investigate how public opinion on elections, government and democracy in Australia looks when compared with citizens’ views in other nations throughout the world.

Australian representatives: Ian McAllister (ANU), Clive Bean (QUT), Rachel Gibson (Leicester)

Next Fielding: 2007

URL: http://www.cses.org/