Unlike Eurofound’s two regular population surveys – the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) and the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) – the e-survey applied a non-probability sampling method. Survey participants were recruited using primarily social media advertisements, complemented with snowball sampling. This method produces a non-representative sample. However, it is possible to adjust the composition of the sample using a number of known characteristics of the true population.
To obtain data that is representative of the demographic profile of the EU27 as a whole and of each individual Member State, the sample was weighted on the basis of gender, age, education and self-defined urbanisation levels (in the latest rounds on the basis of employment status).
Although large segments of the population have access to the internet, those with no access were by default excluded from the sample. Internet penetration levels vary by country and are lower among certain segments of the population, notably elderly people, those living in remote areas and people with low education. Taking part in an online survey also requires digital literacy. Additionally, people who do not use any of the social media channels, where the e-survey was promoted, will not have exposure to the survey, unless they receive it from other participants via snowballing. It is not possible to correct for the bias that is introduced by these factors.
Respondents who agreed to participate in later rounds of the e-survey were asked to submit their email address (this data was pseudonymised and cannot be linked to their survey data), and were invited to participate in subsequent survey rounds. Over 50,000 panel members participated in multiple rounds of the e-survey.
Eurofound launched the e-survey at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, at a time when most EU Member States were introducing restrictive lockdown measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Since 2020, over 140,000 respondents participated in the e-survey across the Member States.
The e-survey includes questions related into the pandemic’s impact on people’s lives and goes further to investigate living and working conditions in a post-pandemic world, covering the uncertain reality caused by the war in Ukraine, record-high inflation and sharp rises in the cost of living. The e-survey asks questions about respondents’ employment situation, their work–life balance and their use of telework both during and after the COVID-19 crisis.
It also examines quality of life and quality of society, with questions ranging from life satisfaction, happiness and optimism, to health and levels of trust in institutions, job quality and health and safety at work. The e-survey also looks at the life of young people in terms of traineeships and apprenticeships, skills and access to training, and their hopes and plans for the future.