Transatlantic Trends: Immigration Methodology

Immigration Methodology

TNS Opinion was commissioned to conduct the survey using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews. In each country, a random sample of approximately 1,000 men and women, 18 years of age and older with access to a landline telephone, was interviewed. Interviews were conducted using Random Digit Dialing between September 1, 2009, and September 17, 2009. For results based on the national samples in each of the countries surveyed, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of error attributable to sampling and other random effects is +/- 3 percentage points. For results based on the total European sample, the maximum margin of error is +/- 1.3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can also introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

The results for each country are weighted according to the following sociodemographic criteria: age, gender, region, and level of education within each country. The results for “Europe” are also weighted according to each country’s population size relative to the total population of the six European countries surveyed. For more details on the methodology used in this survey, please visit www.transatlantictrends.org

When processing is complete, data from the survey are deposited with the Roper Center at the University of Connecticut and the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan (ICPSR) and are available to scholars and other interested parties. For more information, please consult the Roper Center at www.ropercenter.uconn.edu or the ICPSR catalog at www.icpsr.umich.edu.

NOTE ON EUROPEAN AVERAGES

From 2008 to 2009, the list of European countries surveyed in Transatlantic Trends: Immigration has changed. For comparability’s sake, the reports of trend data that show average European opinion from both 2008 and 2009 only include the five European countries surveyed in both years, excluding Spain. For reports that only include results from 2009, all six European countries surveyed this year are included. For additional information on the composition of the European averages, please consult the table below.

TABLE OF EUROPEAN AVERAGES
AVERAGE	COUNTRIES
EU5	France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom
EU6	France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Spain

Immigration Methodology

TABLE OF EUROPEAN AVERAGES