Agreement with Japanese General Social Survey

The European Social Survey (ESS) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Japanese General Social Survey (JGSS).

The formal agreement covers a period of four years, until May 2025, and represents a closer working relationship between the two surveys.

As part of the MoU, both surveys will look for opportunities to replicate survey questions, allowing for comparisons between respondents in Japan and Europe.

The Japanese General Social Survey has already fielded some survey items from the ESS COVID-19 module, due to be fielded in Round 10 of the ESS.

Over the four-year period, two JGSS researchers will be hosted by the ESS with a view to build capacity, and the JGSS will be invited to send a representative to our meeting of all national teams.

The two surveys will also share details about their methodological approaches of implementing the surveys to help improve the quality of survey data in future.

The JGSS Research Center was established at Osaka University of Commerce in 1998 and was accredited by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology as a Joint Usage/Research Center in October 2008.

The JGSS conducts nationally representative surveys almost every two years and shares some modules of questions with East Asian Social Surveys (EASS).

This is the third formal agreement that the ESS now has in place with large-scale surveys that are implemented in countries outside of Europe.

In September 2019, it was revealed that MoUs had been signed with the Australian National University - which implements Life in Australia - and the Human Sciences Research Council, responsible for the South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS).

We are delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate with ESS ERIC, which is a leader in the field of survey research.
Noriko Iwai Director of the Japanese General Social Survey

Professor Rory Fitzgerald, Director of the ESS ERIC, said: “I warmly welcome the opportunity to work more closely with social scientists in Japan.

“The Japanese General Social Survey is based on high methodological standards and is therefore a wonderful global partner for the European Social Survey.”

Noriko Iwai, Director of the Japanese General Social Survey, added: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate with ESS ERIC, which is a leader in the field of survey research.

“We hope our partnership will promote cross-national comparative research between European countries and Japan.”