Adult Education Survey (AES) 2007 and 2011

Summary

Lifelong learning is rooted in the European political debate since 1996 and is fully valued in the Lisbon Council as one of the key elements to achieve the strategic goal of making the European Union the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy. Eurostat proposed the creation of a European statistical information system on the education of the adult population, in which an Adult Education Survey was part of. The Spanish version is the Survey on Adult Population Involvement in Learning Activities (AES), which is aimed to measure adult learning in order to link it to other aspects, such as learning difficulties, accessibility to information on learning opportunities or participation in cultural activities. - Strengths: This survey is grounded on the European project, Adult Education Survey (AES), which is coordinated by Eurostat. - Weaknesses: There is, however, no full harmonization with the EADA 2007.

Type of data

Data Source
Registry + Survey

Type of Study
Crosssection regular

Data gathering method
Face-to-face
Other: Visits and telephone calls to confirm/revise missing data.

Access to data

Conditions of access
On site free access to defined tables and microdata files for scientific purpose and elaboration. Notes for general use and for media: - Free access to tables in Spanish and English http://www.ine.es/jaxi/menu.do?type=pcaxis&path=%2Ft13%2Fp459&file=inebase&L=0 - Spanish anonymised microdata (http://www.ine.es/prodyser/micro_eada.htm) and English anonymised microdata (http://www.ine.es/en/prodyser/micro_eada_en.htm)

Type of available data (e.g. anonymised microdata, aggregated tables, etc.)
Aggregated and elaborated tables plus raw anonymised microdata

Formats available
ASCII zip file following a register design file (EXCEL format).

Coverage

Coverage Years of collection, reference years, and sample sizes
Round 1: Data collected in 2007. Round 2: Data collected in from October 2011 to March 2012. The samples consisted of people between the ages of 18 and 65, both inclusive, living in private dwellings. There was both general and regional representativeness. The survey used a two-staged, stratified sample and included 33,216 interviewees (17,829 completed interviews). There were no proxy substitutions.

First year of collection
2007

Stratification if applicable
Census tracts and population aged 18-65

Base used for sampling

Geographical coverage and breakdowns
All of Spain and its regions

Age range
Population aged 18-65

Statistical representativeness
Special group, please specify

Coverage of main and cross-cutting topics
Data: socio-demographic data on the individuals and the households in which they live, educational information, formal, non-formal and informal learning, characteristics of the learning activities, learning accessibility and difficulties, ICT and languages skills, cultural engagement Data are aggregated in the following areas for dissemination through the website: Adult educational features Educational activities Informal learning Difficulties regarding learning opportunities and possibilities Languages knowledge ICT knowledge Cultural activities Classification variables: age, sex, place of birth, nationality, interviewees’ educational attainment, parental educational attainment, economic situation, social participation, household type, urban/rural settings, regions.

Linkage

Standardisation
Classifications on occupations and professions, and on education are homogenized according to the INE standards and to international norms (CIUO, ISCO, ISCED).

Possibility of linkage among databases
No connection between data from both rounds

Data quality

Entry errors if applicable
- Cognitive pre-tests and behaviour screening meetings on target questions - Previous focus groups with potential interviewees - EADA assessment on non-response (http://www.ine.es/metodologia/t13/t133045911eva.pdf)

Breaks
The European Adult Education Survey (AES) questionnaire was initially prepared by means of a pilot AES during the period 2005-2008, so countries were encouraged to adapt their model questionnaire to that of Eurostat with the fewest possible deviations in order to produce comparable statistics at the EU-level. The European questionnaire was adapted to the Spanish case for EADA 2011, including some variables on the educational background and excluding other parts already treated in other national studies.

Consistency of terminology or coding used during collection
The European questionnaire was adapted to the Spanish case leading to EADA questionnaire 2011, including some variables on the educational background of people and excluding other parts already included in other national studies. The experience taken from the first round in this Spanish survey was also added to the 2011 round to gain consolidation in questions. Some pre-tests to search for questions inconsistencies and misunderstandings in relation with cognitive capabilities were carried out.

Governance

Contact information
Raquel Álvarez Esteban/ Social Statistics Directorate.
Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spanish, Statistical Office, INE)
Castellana 183
28046 Madrid Spain Phone: 91 583 91 00
Email: raquel.alvarez.esteban(at)ine.es
Url: http://www.ine.es/jaxi/menu.do?type=pcaxis&path=%2Ft13%2Fp459&file=inebase&L=0

Timeliness, transparency
Data collection was finalised in March 2011. Transmission of data to Eurostat was in August and the dissemination of national results was in November of 2012.