Transatlantic Trends 2012— Transatlantic Trends 2012 is a comprehensive annual survey of American and European public opinion. Polling was conducted by TNS Opinion between June 2 and June 27, 2012, in the United States, Turkey, Russia, and 12 European Union member states: Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The survey is a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) and the Compagnia di San Paolo, with additional support from the Fundação Luso-Americana, the BBVA Foundation, the Communitas Foundation, the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and the Open Society Foundations.
Fieldwork:
The fieldwork was coordinated by TNS opinion.
| Germany – TNS EMNID | Poland – TNS OBOP |
| France – Efficience 3 | Slovakia – TNS SK s.r.o. |
| Italy – TNS Italy | Turkey – TNS PIAR |
| Netherlands – Efficience 3 | Bulgaria – TNS BBSS |
| Portugal – TNS EUROTESTE | Romania – TNS BBSS |
| Spain – TNS Demoscopia | Sweden – TNS SIFO AB |
| United Kingdom – ICM | USA – TNS US and Universal Survey |
| Russia – Russia Bashkirova & Partners |
The sample sizes amount to approximately 1,000 respondents in each country, except for Russia which had 1,500.
| Germany: 1,000 | Poland: 1,000 |
| France: 1,000 | Slovakia: 1,005 |
| Italy: 1,000 | Turkey: 1,009 |
| Netherlands: 1,000 | Bulgaria: 1,007 |
| Portugal: 1,000 | Romania: 1,025 |
| Spain: 1,000 | Sweden: 1,000 |
| United Kingdom: 1,000 | USA: 1,001 |
| Russia: 1,500 |
Methodology:
Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (except in Poland, Slovakia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Russia where face-to-face interviews were conducted due to the low telephone penetration rate in these six countries). Both landline and mobile phone numbers were included in countries with a high concentration of exclusively mobile phone users: Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the United States.
The basic sample design applied in all states is multi-stage random (probability). In each household, the respondent was drawn at random (following the “closest birthday rule”). Up to 5 call-backs for telephone interviews and 4 visits in total for face-to-face interviews were attempted before dropping a potential respondent.
Results for Europe as a whole are also indicated. In order to compare with the previous results, we have processed 4 separate totals for the results of Europe:
EU 7: Results for EU7 based on seven European Union member states: United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland and Portugal.
EU 9: Results for EU9 based on nine European Union member states: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and United Kingdom.
EU 11: Results for EU11 based on eleven European Union member states: Europe 9 plus Bulgaria, Romania.
EU 12: Results for EU12 based on twelve European Union member states: Europe 11 plus Sweden.
The figures given for Europe are weighted on the basis of the adult population in each of the European countries. In addition, for all countries, all new questions since 2010 are weighted using specified country demographic weights.
w1: Stage 1 – selection probability weight applied to all countries
w2: Stage 2 – Correction for dual frame countries Spain, Italy, Portugal and US
w3: Stage 3 – Socio-demographic weights for all countries (gender/age, education, region)
w3capped: Based on weight w3 but capped to 0.3 and 3.5
Where available, data from the “Transatlantic Trends 2009”, “Transatlantic Trends 2008”, “Transatlantic Trends 2007”, “Transatlantic Trends 2006”, “Transatlantic Trends 2005”, “Transatlantic Trends 2004”, “Transatlantic Trends 2003” surveys and the “Worldviews 2002” survey are provided. For purposes of comparison, figures are shown below the 2012 corresponding figure, in italics. The results of Worldviews 2002 are based on the 6 European countries surveyed (United Kingdom, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy and Poland). In order to simplify the presentation of the results, they have been included in the column Europe 7.
All figures are expressed in percentage terms. In questions where [Europe\the United States] or [European Union\the United States] figures, the former item is asked in Europe and the latter in the United States.
Due to the rounding off of the results, in certain tables the figures representing a sum of results can differ by +/- one point compared to the actual sum of individual results.
For the results based on the total sample in each of the fifteen countries, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus three percentage points. For results based on the total European sample, the margin of error is plus or minus one percentage point.
The summary topline report shows results for each of the 15 countries surveyed. In 2012 Russia was also included:
USA = United States
FR = France
GER = Germany
UK= the United Kingdom
IT = Italy
NL = the Netherlands
PL = Poland
PT = Portugal
SP = Spain
SK = Slovakia
TR = Turkey
BG = Bulgaria
RO = Romania
SE = Sweden
RU = Russia
Detailed Methodology:
