New Topics for Inclusion into the World Values Survey-8 (2023-2026) Questionnaire

The World Values Survey Association has started to plan the 8th wave of the World Values Survey which will be conducted worldwide in 2023-2026. In the course of 2022 the Executive Committee will update the survey questionnaire for the next wave.

Given the WVS’s time-series nature, about 60% of the current questionnaire (equivalent of approximately 150 items) will be repeated in wave 8. For the remaining 40% of the questionnaire space (equivalent of approximately 100-120 items), the aim is to include measures for several new issues relating to the processes of significant social, economic, and political value change. With this call, we invite research projects, organizations, and individual scholars to submit your proposals of new topics and questions for inclusion into the WVS-8 questionnaire.

The Executive Committee of the WVSA has identified several themes where submission of modules and single questions is particularly welcome, including:

• climate change and environmental protection;
• authoritarianism (authoritarian principles and values, norms and practices);
• responses to disasters (pandemic or other);
• misinformation and the role of social media;
• polarization of values;
• political participation through social media (non-electoral participation), populism (and technocracy);
• methodological innovations incorporating survey experiments.

Submissions on other topics will be considered as well.

Proposed new measures (single questions and modules) must be clear and precise, validated and tested in previous survey / pilot efforts. WVSA’s intention would be to divide the 100-120 items of space between 4-5 new topics. For this reason, WVSA strongly advises to limit the proposed modules and batteries to 10-15 or 18-25 questions (depending on the complexity of the topic). In case of batteries (set of statements featuring same scale applicable to all), every statement is counted as separate question (equivalent to a variable). Proposed longer modules will be considered as well but should be accompanied by a justification. As a rule, WVS questionnaire does not include open-ended questions.

Most items in proposed modules should be relevant to all WVS respondents (adults, residents of their counties in the age of 18+), with routing that targets sub-groups kept to a minimum. Items in the module must be applicable globally. If a module targets respondents in a particular part of the world (region, groups of countries speaking one language or identified on another basis), this should be clearly highlighted at the beginning of the proposal.  

The WVS-8 survey round is likely to include a mix of data collection approaches, with some national teams carrying out face-to-face fieldwork and others using self-completion or mixed-mode approaches.

Applicants therefore need to consider how their module can be implemented across modes. 
Applications (see the link for requirements) should be submitted to the WVSA Secretariat (wvsa.secretariat@gmail.com) by December 1, 2022.