DREES Barometer on Public Opinion

Summary

Strenghts: - This survey is one of the very few sources of data dealing with Public Attitudes towards Older Age in France; - It’s a ‘light’ survey, with self-reported data only, thus it is quite easy to carry out analyses and data are quickly available; - This is a periodic survey carried out annually since 2000; - It is possible to contact the DREES to suggest new questions. Weaknesses: - Quota sampling; - There are very few contextual questions (only one question to identify the respondent as a informal caregiver or a disabled/dependent person; - data dictionaries and datasets are not available in English.

Type of data

Data Source
Survey

Type of Study
Crosssection regular

Data gathering method
Face-to-face

Access to data

Conditions of access
Free downloadable files from the Centre Quételet (http://www.reseau-quetelet.cnrs.fr/spip/) (2008-09 data) or DVD/CD sent by DREES after agreement

Type of available data (e.g. anonymised microdata, aggregated tables, etc.)
Individual data.

Formats available
txt

Coverage

Coverage Years of collection, reference years, and sample sizes
Data collection ongoing annually since 2000 (excludes 2003) and includes a sample size of approximately 4,000 individuals for each wave.

First year of collection
2000

Stratification if applicable

Base used for sampling

Geographical coverage and breakdowns
national

Age range
age 18 and over

Statistical representativeness
Population representative

Coverage of main and cross-cutting topics
This survey follows French opinions toward health and social issues, welfare, family, solidarity and poverty. Several questions deal with some aspects of public attitudes toward older age, for example, concern towards the aging of the population in developed countries, and in France in particular, future of the retirement system, perceived risk of poverty/exclusion according to age, perception of the standard of living of retired people (compared to the whole population); opinions and personal wishes regarding the retirement system, care for older and disabled people is mainly a task for the State/local authorities/the family/insurance companies, attitude toward a parent who would become dependent, and personal desire/reluctance to live (in the future) in a specialised institution for Old Age & Elderly Care Homes.

Linkage

Standardisation
No standardization.

Possibility of linkage among databases
No.

Data quality

Entry errors if applicable

Breaks
Data collection is carried out by a private institute (IFOP for 2000-2002, BVA for 2004-2012).

Consistency of terminology or coding used during collection
Good consistency across waves.

Governance

Contact information
Florent Favre / DRESS (Direction de la recherche, des études, de l’évaluation et des statistiques)
Ministère des Affaires sociales et de la Santé
14, avenue Duquesne
75350 PARIS 07 SP France Phone: (+33) 01.40.56.60.00 (switchboard)
Email: barometre-drees(at)sante.gouv.fr
Url:

Timeliness, transparency
First results and dataset are available about one year after the end of data collection.