The QoG Social Policy Dataset, Version 22Feb10

Abstract

The aim of the QoG Social Policy Dataset is to promote cross-national comparative research on social policy output and its correlates, with a special focus on the connection between social policy and quality of government (QoG). To accomplish this we have compiled a number of freely available data sources, including aggregated public opinion data. The data comes in three versions: one cross-sectional dataset with global coverage pertaining to the year 2002 (or the closest year available), and two cross-sectional timeseries datasets for a selection of 40 countries. The first time-series dataset (long) has country year as its unit of observation, spanning the time period 1946-2009. The other time-series dataset (wide), which is specifically tailored for the analysis of public opinion data over time, instead uses country as its unit of observation, and one variable for every 5th year from 1970-2005 (or, one per module of each public opinion data source).