Jaime Díez Medrano
Director of the WVS Data Archive

Researchers have gained free access during the last years to a valuable number of data sources. Among them is the complete collection of files from the World Values Surveys from 1981 to 2009, available separately or aggregated in a single file at www.worldvaluessurvey.org.

An agreement with EVS five years ago also made it possible to build an aggregate of the 4 initial waves of the WVS and EVS surveys, covering the 1981-2004 period. Unfortunately this agreement has not been renewed yet for the 1981-2009 period and so it is not possible to download directly the file with all data from both studies covering the period 1981-2009.

The five-wave WVS/EVS aggregate can however be constructed using existing files by any researcher using the procedure we describe in this paper.

COMPATIBILITY OF 4-WAVE AND 5-WAVE AGGREGATES

The 4-wave aggregate of the values surveys includes both WVS and EVS surveys ranging from 1981 to 2004. Both studies had an initial common start but later they took a separate path. In an effort to build a common and official aggregate of all the studies, a joint project was carried in 2005 between Tilburg University (Netherlands) and ASEP/JDS (Spain).

The main result from this project was the definition of a global dictionary, which is a listing of all variables asked in any of the surveys included in the aggregate file (EVS 1981, WVS 1981, EVS 1990, WVS 1990, WVS 1995, EVS 1999 and WVS 2000). The global dictionary also includes information about the correspondence of each individual wave variable wuth other wave variables and the recodings that are necessary to make them compatible. This was covered in Human Beliefs and Values: A Cross-Cultural Sourcebook, Loek Halman, Ronald Inglehart, Jaime Díez-Medrano, Ruud Luijkx, Editorial Siglo XXI, 2004.

When processing the WVS 2005, the variables have also been added to the global dictionary and, at the same, this dictionary was extended to include the new variables added in 2005. A few variables have been reorganized and some minor mistakes of the previous aggregate corrected. The new WVS 5-wave aggregate available on the web is built from the WVS 1981, WVS 1990, WVS 1995, WVS 2000 and WVS 2005 files using the same technique as the 4-wave, and using the same global dictionary. It is, as a consequence, compatible with the 4-wave aggregate.

The lack of an agreement between the interested parts prevents publishing a 5-wave WVS-EVS aggregate nowadays, but it is possible to extract the EVS files from the 4-wave aggregate and insert them in the existing 5-wave WVS aggregate. The procedure is described below.

PROCEDURE FOR BUILDING A 5-WAVE WVS-EVS AGGREGATE

The procedure is described in terms of SPSS syntax, available for download in the following link: 5waveWVSEVSprocedure.sps

The methodology is easy enough to be replicated in any other statistical environment.

There are basically four steps:

• Extraction of the EVS waves 1 to 4 from the 4-wave Values Studies official aggregate
• Adaptation of the extracted file to the minor variations in the global dictionary, renaming variables and making some recodings.
• Insertion of the EVS resulting file into the WVS 5-wave official file.
• Rebuilding of the Traditional Secular scores.

a- Getting the necessary files

Before you start, the following files need to be downloaded from the WVS site: www.worldvaluessurvey.org:

• European and World Values Surveys four-wave integrated data file, 1981-2004, v.20060423, 2006
• World Values Survey 1981-2008 official aggregate v.20090901, 2009

You should copy the above files to your local disk and take note of the folder name. We will refer to c:\your_data_folder to the path were the files are stored.

b- Extracting EVS data from the 1981-2004 aggregate file

Variable S001 tells if the data comes from EVS or WVS. S001 equals 1 for all EVS data. Also note that Sweden made the 1999 survey for both studies, and so it needs not be extracted from the file since it is already present in the WVS 5-wave aggregate.

The syntax in SPSS for doing this task is just this:

* Open the 4-wave aggregate in the workspace.
NEW FILE.
GET FILE='c:\your_data_folder\XWVSEVS_1981_2000_v20060423.sav'.
* Filter for EVS, excluding Sweden 1999 which is already in the WVS 5-wave aggregate.
SELECT IF (s001=1 AND s021<>75204111999).
EXECUTE.

c- Adapting EVS data to the current global dictionary:

Some EVS variables weren’t properly recoded in the 4-wave aggregate. More specifically, some Yes/No variables with Yes coded 1 and No coded 2 weren’t recoded to 1 Yes and 0 No in the aggregate and can be corrected using the following syntax:

* Adapt S009 format to 3 characters instead of 2.
alter type s009 (A3).
* Correct a few recoding mistakes in the official version.
recode a010 to a019,C059,D020A (2=0).

Also, a number of variables were renamed. The battery of variables about neighbours, confidence in organizations and trust were renamed to a common variable name, followed by a number for each of the groups mentioned.

The following table summarizes the changes:

Old Name	New name	Label
A124	A124_01	Neighbours: People with a criminal record
A125	A124_02	Neighbours: People of a different race
A126	A124_03	Neighbours: Heavy drinkers
A127	A124_04	Neighbours: Emotionally unstable people
A128	A124_05	Neighbours: Muslims
A129	A124_06	Neighbours: Immigrants/foreign workers
A130	A124_07	Neighbours: People who have AIDS
A131	A124_08	Neighbours: Drug addicts
A132	A124_09	Neighbours: Homosexuals
A133	A124_10	Neighbours: Jews
A134	A124_11	Neighbours: Evangelists
A135	A124_12	Neighbours: People of a different religion
A136	A124_13	Neighbours: People of the same religion
A137	A124_14	Neighbours: Militant minority
A138	A124_15	Neighbours: Zoroastrians
A139	A124_16	Neighbours: People not from country of origin
A140	A124_17	Neighbours: Gypsies
A141	A124_18	Neighbours: Political Extremists
A142	A124_19	Neighbours: Trafficants
A143	A124_20	Neighbours: Indians or Lebanese
A144	A124_21	Neighbours: Chinese or Philippine Chinese
A145	A124_22	Neighbours: Spiritists
A146	A124_23	Neighbours: Protestants
A147	A124_24	Neighbours: Christians
A148	A124_25	Neighbours: Witchdoctors and related labels
A149	A124_26	Neighbours: Left wing extremists
A150	A124_27	Neighbours: Right wing extremists
A151	A124_28	Neighbours: People with large families
A152	A124_29	Neighbours: Hindus
A153	A124_30	Neighbours: North-American persons
A154	A124_31	Neighbours: Haitians
A155	A124_32	Neighbours: Members of new religious movements
A156	A124_33	Neighbours: Jews, Arabs, Asians, gypsies, etc
A157	A124_34	Neighbours: Black people
A158	A124_35	Neighbours: White people
A159	A124_36	Neighbours: Coloured people
A160	A124_37	Neighbours: Indians
A161	A124_38	Neighbours: Kurds, Esids
A162	A124_39	Neighbours: Students
A163	A124_40	Neighbours: Unmarried mothers
A164	A124_41	Neighbours: Members of minority religious sects or cults
A177	A124_44	Neighbours: Members of ETA (terrorists)
A178	A124_45	Neighbours: Sunnis
A180	A124_46	Neighbours: Shia
A182	A124_47	Neighbours: French
A183	A124_48	Neighbours: British
A184	A124_49	Neighbours: Iranian
A185	A124_50	Neighbours: Kuwaiti
A186	A124_51	Neighbours: Turkish
A187	A124_52	Neighbours: Jordanian
A188	A124_53	Neighbours: Kildani
C042	C042B1	Why people work: work is like a business transaction
C043	C042B2	Why people work: I do the best I can regardless of pay
C044	C042B3	Why people work: I wouldn’t work if I didn’t have to
C045	C042B4	Why people work: I wouldn´t work if work interfered my life
C046	C042B5	Why people work: work most important in my life
C047	C042B6	Why people work: I never had a paid job
C048	C042B7	Why people work: don’t know
E069	E069_01	Confidence: Churches
E070	E069_02	Confidence: Armed Forces
E071	E069_03	Confidence: Education System
E072	E069_04	Confidence: The Press
E073	E069_05	Confidence: Labour Unions
E074	E069_06	Confidence: The Police
E075	E069_07	Confidence: Parliament
E076	E069_08	Confidence: The Civil Services
E077	E069_09	Confidence: Social Security System
E078	E069_10	Confidence: Television
E079	E069_11	Confidence: The Government
E080	E069_12	Confidence: The Political Parties
E081	E069_13	Confidence: Major Companies
E082	E069_14	Confidence: The Environmental Protection Movement
E083	E069_15	Confidence: The Women´s Movement
E084	E069_16	Confidence: Health Care System
E085	E069_17	Confidence: Justice System
E086	E069_18	Confidence: The European Union
E087	E069_19	Confidence: NATO
E088	E069_20	Confidence: The United Nations
E089	E069_21	Confidence: The Arab League
E090	E069_22	Confidence: The Association of South East Asian Nations -ASEAN
E091	E069_23	Confidence: The Organization for African Unity-OAU
E092	E069_24	Confidence: The NAFTA
E093	E069_25	Confidence: The Andean pact
E094	E069_26	Confidence: The Mercosur
E095	E069_27	Confidence: The SAARC
E096	E069_28	Confidence: The ECO
E097	E069_29	Confidence: The APEC
E098	E069_30	Confidence: The Free Commerce Treaty (Tratado de libre comercio)
E099	E069_31	Confidence: The United American States Organization (Organización de Estados Unidos Americanos - OEA)
E100	E069_32	Confidence: The “Movimiento en pro de Vieques”(Puerto Rico)
E101	E069_33	Confidence: Local/Regional Government
E102	E069_34	Confidence: SADC/SADEC
E103	E069_35	Confidence: East African Cooperation (EAC)
E199	E069_36	Confidence: Other television
E200	E069_37	Confidence: The Americans
E201	E069_38	Confidence: The Presidency
E202	E069_39	Confidence: The Civil Society Groups
G007	G007_01	Trust: Other people in country
G008A	G007_02	Trust: French Canadians
G008AA	G007_03	Trust: Nepalese
G008AB	G007_04	Trust: Korean residents in Japan
G008AC	G007_05	Trust: Chinese residents in Japan
G008AD	G007_06	Trust: Mestizo
G008AE	G007_07	Trust: Indians
G008AF	G007_08	Trust: Central Americans
G008AG	G007_09	Trust: Hausas
G008AH	G007_10	Trust: Igbos
G008AI	G007_11	Trust: Yorubas
G008AJ	G007_12	Trust: Ghanaians
G008AK	G007_13	Trust: Czechs
G008AL	G007_14	Trust: East Germans
G008AM	G007_15	Trust: Hungarians
G008AN	G007_16	Trust: West Germans
G008AO	G007_17	Trust: Your friends
G008AP	G007_18	Trust: Your neighbourhood
G008AQ	G007_19	Trust: White South Africans
G008AR	G007_20	Trust: Black South Africans
G008AS	G007_21	Trust: Coloured South Africans
G008AT	G007_22	Trust: Asian South Africans
G008AU	G007_23	Trust: Zulus
G008AV	G007_24	Trust: Xhosas
G008AW	G007_25	Trust: Greeks
G008AX	G007_26	Trust: Iranians
G008AY	G007_27	Trust: Europeans
G008AZ	G007_28	Trust: Moroccans
G008B	G007_29	Trust: Immigrants
G008BA	G007_30	Trust: Portuguese
G008BB	G007_31	Trust: Koreans
G008BC	G007_32	Trust: Soviet Union people
G008C	G007_37	Trust: Americans
G008D	G007_38	Trust: Mexicans
G008E	G007_39	Trust: Russians
G008F	G007_40	Trust: Chinese
G008G	G007_41	Trust: Italians
G008H	G007_42	Trust: Latin Americans
G008I	G007_43	Trust: Japanese
G008J	G007_44	Trust: Blacks
G008K	G007_45	Trust: Germans
G008L	G007_46	Trust: Arabs
G008M	G007_47	Trust: Jews
G008N	G007_48	Trust: Mapuche Indians
G008O	G007_49	Trust: Pascuences
G008P	G007_50	Trust: Argentines
G008Q	G007_51	Trust: Peruvians
G008R	G007_52	Trust: Chinese Zhuan Nationality
G008S	G007_53	Trust: Chinese Hui Nationality
G008T	G007_54	Trust: English
G008U	G007_55	Trust: Slovaks
G008V	G007_56	Trust: Gypsies
G008W	G007_57	Trust: Poles
G008X	G007_58	Trust: Indian Hindus
G008Y	G007_59	Trust: Indian Non-Hindus
G008Z	G007_60	Trust: Pakistanis

The SPSS syntax to rename the above variables is this:

* Rename the few variable names that have changed in the current aggregate dictionnary.
RENAME VARIABLES
(A124=A124_01) (A125=A124_02) (A126=A124_03) (A127=A124_04) (A128=A124_05) (A129=A124_06) (A130=A124_07) (A131=A124_08) (A132=A124_09) (A133=A124_10) (A134=A124_11) (A135=A124_12)
(A136=A124_13) (A137=A124_14) (A138=A124_15) (A139=A124_16) (A140=A124_17) (A141=A124_18) (A142=A124_19) (A143=A124_20) (A144=A124_21) (A145=A124_22) (A146=A124_23) (A147=A124_24)
(A148=A124_25) (A149=A124_26) (A150=A124_27) (A151=A124_28) (A152=A124_29) (A153=A124_30) (A154=A124_31) (A155=A124_32) (A156=A124_33) (A157=A124_34) (A158=A124_35) (A159=A124_36)
(A160=A124_37) (A161=A124_38) (A162=A124_39) (A163=A124_40) (A164=A124_41) (A177=A124_44) (A178=A124_45) (A180=A124_46) (A182=A124_47) (A183=A124_48) (A184=A124_49) (A185=A124_50) (A186=A124_51) (A187=A124_52) (A188=A124_53) (C042=C042B1) (C043=C042B2) (C044=C042B3) (C045=C042B4) (C046=C042B5) (C047=C042B6) (C048=C042B7) (E069=E069_01) (E070=E069_02) (E071=E069_03) (E072=E069_04) (E073=E069_05) (E074=E069_06) (E075=E069_07) (E076=E069_08)
(E077=E069_09) (E078=E069_10) (E079=E069_11) (E080=E069_12) (E081=E069_13) (E082=E069_14) (E083=E069_15) (E084=E069_16) (E085=E069_17) (E086=E069_18) (E087=E069_19) (E088=E069_20)
(E089=E069_21) (E090=E069_22) (E091=E069_23) (E092=E069_24) (E093=E069_25) (E094=E069_26) (E095=E069_27) (E096=E069_28) (E097=E069_29) (E098=E069_30) (E099=E069_31) (E100=E069_32)
(E101=E069_33) (E102=E069_34) (E103=E069_35) (E199=E069_36) (E200=E069_37) (E201=E069_38) (E202=E069_39) (G007=G007_01) (G008A=G007_02) (G008AA=G007_03) (G008AB=G007_04) (G008AC=G007_05) (G008AD=G007_06) (G008AE=G007_07) (G008AF=G007_08) (G008AG=G007_09) (G008AH=G007_10) (G008AI=G007_11) (G008AJ=G007_12) (G008AK=G007_13) (G008AL=G007_14) (G008AM=G007_15) (G008AN=G007_16) (G008AO=G007_17) (G008AP=G007_18) (G008AQ=G007_19) (G008AR=G007_20) (G008AS=G007_21) (G008AT=G007_22) (G008AU=G007_23) (G008AV=G007_24) (G008AW=G007_25) (G008AX=G007_26) (G008AY=G007_27) (G008AZ=G007_28) (G008B=G007_29) (G008BA=G007_30) (G008BB=G007_31) (G008BC=G007_32) (G008C=G007_37) (G008D=G007_38) (G008E=G007_39) (G008F=G007_40) (G008G=G007_41) (G008H=G007_42) (G008I=G007_43)
(G008J=G007_44) (G008K=G007_45) (G008L=G007_46) (G008M=G007_47) (G008N=G007_48) (G008O=G007_49) (G008P=G007_50) (G008Q=G007_51) (G008R=G007_52) (G008S=G007_53) (G008T=G007_54) (G008U=G007_55) (G008V=G007_56) (G008W=G007_57) (G008X=G007_58) (G008Y=G007_59) (G008Z=G007_60)
.
execute.

d- Saving the EVS part for later use:

You can save the result of the previous step to a file in the same disk folder using the following syntax (or manually if you prefer). Let’s save it under the name evs_1981_1999.sav.

* The file is ready to be merged. Save the EVS 4-wave under evs_1981_1999.sav name excluding some variables that will not be included in the aggregate.
SAVE OUTFILE='c:\your_data_folder\evs_1981_1999.sav'
/DROP a008a,a059a,a060a,a061a,c036a,c037a,c038a,c039a,c040a,c041a, c042a,c060a,d020a,d044a,d056a,d057a,d058a,d061a,d062a,d063a,d064a, d065a,e003a,e004a,e146a,e147a,e148a,e149a,e168a,e169a,e170a,e171a, e172a,e173a,e174a,e175a,e176a,e177a,f145a,f146a,f147a,f148a,f149a,f150a, f151a,f152a, f153a,f154a,f155a,f160a,f161a,f163a
.

In the above command, we have omitted some variables that are not common to any WVS study. If you want to keep them, simply remove the /DROP subcommand from the SPSS command.

e- Merging together 5-wave WVS and 4-wave EVS files

The last step is to merge the two files with WVS and EVS only aggregates. This can be done in SPSS with the following command:

* Now merge the WVS 5-wave and the EVS 4-wave.
NEW FILE.
ADD FILES
/FILE='c:\your_data_folder\wvs1981_2008_v20090914.sav'
/FILE='c:\your_data_folder\evs_1981_1999.sav'
.

We now have an aggregate of the WVS+EVS, covering 1981-2009 and with 355,298 individual cases from 98 world societies!

f- Final adjustments of the aggregate

As a final step, we need to rebuild the Y003 Autonomy index, which is reversed in the 4-wave aggregate, and rebuild the TradRat/SurvSelf factors for the whole file:

* Compute again the Autonomy Index (Auton4) to make sure it is correct.
COMPUTE Y003=-4.
if (A040>=0 and A042>=0 and A029>=0 and A039>=0) y003=-(a040 + a042)+(a029 +A039).
execute.
* Compute again the TradRat and SurvSelf scores.
FACTOR /VARIABLES a008 a165 e018 e025 f063 f118 f120 g006 y002 y003
/MISSING LISTWISE
/ANALYSIS a008 a165 e018 e025 f063 f118 f120 g006 y002 y003
/PRINT INITIAL EXTRACTION ROTATION
/FORMAT SORT BLANK(.3)
/CRITERIA FACTORS(2) ITERATE(25)
/EXTRACTION PC
/CRITERIA ITERATE(25)
/ROTATION VARIMAX
/SAVE REG(ALL)
/METHOD=CORRELATION.
EXECUTE .
COMPUTE TRADRAT5=fac1_1.
COMPUTE SURVSELF=-fac2_1.
COMPUTE S007=$CASENUM.
EXECUTE.

g- Save your results

The resulting file is ready. Let’s save it for future use in our research:

* Save the resulting 5 wave EVS/WVS aggregate under the name wvsevs_1981_2009,
excluding the auxiliar variables that aren't needed.
SAVE OUTFILE='c:\your_data_folder\wvsevs_1981_2009.sav' /DROP fac1_1,fac2_1.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

For those willing to create smaller files for analyzing subsets of such a big file, you may consider the following tricks:

a) Variable S001 codes the study (1= EVS 2=WVS)
b) Variable S002 codes the wave (1=1981, 2=1990, 3=1995, 4=1999/2000 and 5=2005)
c) Variable S003 codes the country
d) Variable S004 codes the survey number in the same wave, for the few cases were more than a survey was carried.
e) Variable S021 is a compound of the above variables (study-wave-country-sample)
You can use any of these variables to filter the file and build a smaller one.