The WVS Dataset
For this workshop, we will be using dataset stored in a CSV file called wvs-wave7-sg-ca-nz.csv.
A CSV (Comma-Separated Values) file is a type of file that stores data in a plain text format. Each line in the file represents a row of data, and within each row, individual pieces of data (like numbers or words) are separated by commas.
This format is commonly used for storing and transferring data, especially in spreadsheets and databases. Because it is literally just plain text, it is an ideal format if you have large amount of data.
You can open CSV files in Excel, Google Sheets, or even Notepad!
Data Dictionary for WVS dataset
The World Values Survey (<www.worldvaluessurvey.org>) is a global network of social scientists studying changing values and their impact on social and political life, led by an international team of scholars, with the WVS association and secretariat headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.
The actual questionnaire consists of over 200 questions with respondents from various countries. For the purpose of this workshop, we will only use 16 variables/questions with respondents from Canada, New Zealand, and Singapore. The 16 variables are:
country-
Character variable containing three-letter country codes:
CAN,NZL, andSGP ID-
Numeric identifier unique to each survey respondent
family_importance-
Numeric scale from 1 to 4 measuring importance of family, where 1 indicates highest importance
friends_importance-
Numeric scale from 1 to 4 measuring importance of friends, where 1 indicates highest importance
leisure_importance-
Numeric scale from 1 to 4 measuring importance of leisure time, where 1 indicates highest importance
work_importance-
Numeric scale from 1 to 4 measuring importance of work, where 1 indicates highest importance
freedom-
Numeric scale from 1-10 measuring perceived freedom of choice and control, where 10 indicates most freedom
life_satisfaction-
Numeric scale from 1-10 measuring overall life satisfaction, where 10 indicates highest satisfaction
financial_satisfaction-
Numeric scale from 1-10 measuring satisfaction with financial situation, where 10 indicates highest satisfaction
religiousity-
indicates religious self-identification:
A religious person,Not a religious person,An atheist political_scale-
Numeric scale from 1-10 measuring left-right political orientation, where 1 is left and 10 is right
sex-
indicates respondent’s gender:
maleorfemale birthyear-
Numeric variable indicating year of birth
age-
Numeric variable indicating respondent’s age
marital_status-
indicates current marital status:
Married,Living together as married,Divorced,Separated,Widowed,Single employment-
indicates current employment status:
Full time,Part time,Self employed,Retired/pensioned,Housewife not otherwise employed,Student,Unemployed
Below is the snapshot of the selected questions and how they appeared in the questionnaire:
If you’d like to find out more about this data, including the original codebook and questionnaire, check out their homepage here: https://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSDocumentationWV7.jsp
References
Haerpfer, C., Inglehart, R., Moreno, A., Welzel, C., Kizilova, K., Diez-Medrano, J., Lagos, M., Norris, P., Ponarin, E. & Puranen B. (2022): World Values Survey Wave 7 (2017-2022) Cross-National Data-Set. Version: 4.0.0. World Values Survey Association. DOI: doi.org/10.14281/18241.18