EWCS 2010 - Sampling

The sample used in the European Working Conditions Survey is representative of those aged 15 years and over (16 and over in Spain, the UK and Norway) who are in employment and are resident in the country that is being surveyed. In each country, a multi-stage, stratified random sampling design was used.

In the first stage, primary sampling units (PSUs) were sampled, stratifying according to geographic regions (NUTS 2 level or below) and level of urbanisation. Subsequently, in each PSU households were sampled. In countries where an updated, high quality address or population register was available, this was used as the sampling frame. If such a register was not available a random route procedure was applied. In the 5th EWCS, for the first time, the enumeration of addresses through this random route procedure was separated from the interviewing stage. Finally, a screening procedure was applied to select the eligible respondent within each household.

The target number of interviews was 1,000 in all countries, except Slovenia (1,400), the UK, Italy and Poland (1,500), Germany and Turkey (2,000), France (3,000) and Belgium (4,000). The Slovenian, French and Belgian governments made use of the possibility offered by Eurofound to pay for an addition to the initial sample size. The number of interviews completed in each country is summarised in the following table.

Number of completed interviews:

For more information please see the Sampling Implementation Report.