European Value Maps are conceptual maps of human values across Europe.
European Value Maps allow the public to reflect on the sheer variety of
opinions that are held by European citizens. In doing so, they help
European citizens to become more accepting to differences in their
opinions, and therefore reduce opinion polarization that has become one of
the warring trends in our society.
European Value Maps are created using European Values Study
(EVS) data set. Each map is created using a small set of questions from this
survey (usually between 10 and 20 questions) that are unified by a single societal
topic. Each dot on the map represents a person who filled in the survey. Two
dots are close on the map if the two corresponding persons filled in the survey
in a similar way. The countries represents groups (clusters) of people with similar opinions.
European Value Maps resemble geographic maps, but you should not be misled
– there is no geography involved. A country in this map is conceptual – it
is a group of people that hold similar opinions. This way the maps allow
to observe and investigate all the variety of opinions on a certain topic
without drawing strict geographic borders. We believe that observing these
diversity of opinions will help European citizens to embrace their
differences and similarities and avoid falling into extreme polarized
groups.
You can investigate the countries by clicking on them and reading their
description. The description of each country was produced by a careful
manual analysis of the data within it. To see if you agree with the
description, you can investigate the opinions within each country yourself
by using bar-charts that show how the questions were answered. You can
also investigate the demographic data of the population within the
counties using the bar chart tab. This way you can also investigate the
interplay between the conceptual and geographic proximities. You can also
see yourself on the map! Just click on the survey tab, answer the proposed
questions and enjoy exploring your position as it relates to the position
of European citizens!
Methodology and Related Work
Data of the European Values Study have been presented in visual form in
the European Values Atlas,
using
choropleths
(geographic maps with countries coloured accordingly to the value of an investigated
variable),
bar charts, and
scatterplots. These visuals show valuable insights on the separate dimensions of the
data set (one question at a time). Our goal with the conceptual maps is to
introduce a whole other dimension of the use of data visualisation to the
analysis of European Value Study data. We suggest mapping multiple
dimensions of the data set at once, without strict prior hypotheses,
providing an overview of the data and tools to investigate details, to
build further surprising and unexpected insights on the data.
For the construction of a map, we first select a set of questions from the
EVS that address a single societal topic. Whenever feasible, the questions
are selected based on previous research on the topic. We cluster the
corresponding multidimensional space (the number of dimensions is the
number of questions we considered). Afterwards, we apply dimensionality reduction
techniques, that map the multiple dimensions to the two dimensions of the screen.
Finally, we color the regions that contain points of the same cluster with
the same color. This methodology was applied earlier to build conceptual map
of a survey on the topic
“Should we eat meat?”.
More generally conceptual maps are being popular for other types of data types,
beyond surveys.
I am an Assistant Professor at the Department of Information and
Computing Sciences of Utrecht University. I am passionate about
Graphs, Algorithms and Data Visualizations. I love beauty in all its
forms – whether it is nature, art or design. I am intrigued by
psychology and the dynamics of human relationships. My goal in life is
to use all my skills to make this world a little better place to live.
During the spring of 2022, I worked on the European Values Maps for
the course Software Project for the bachelor Computer Science at
Utrecht University. Now, I am working as Assistant Researcher at the
Department of Information and Computing Sciences of Utrecht University
to continue the research.
During the spring of 2022, a group of 12 students worked on the
European Values Maps during the course Software Project as part of the
Bachelor Computer Science at Utrecht University.
Inge Sieben
is Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology at Tilburg
University. She is co-author of
the Atlas of European Values,
(2022 - Open Press TiU; 2011 - Brill publishers) and coordinator of
the Erasmus+ KA2 EVALUE project on European Values in Education. Her research
interests include moral and childrearing values, religion, and democracy
in a comparative perspective.
Quita Muis is a PhD researcher and lecturer at the Department of Sociology at Tilburg
University, connected to the European Values Study and the university’s
Impact Program. For her dissertation, she investigates polarization, particularly
between educational groups. Her broader research interests include (changes
in) public opinion, polarization, identity, and politics.
Tim Reeskens
is an Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology at Tilburg
University. He serves as the coordinator of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence
of European Values, and is the National Program Director of the European
Values Studies Netherlands. His research interest regard the comparative
study of social and political values and attitudes, with a focus on social
capital, welfare attitudes, and national identity.
If you have any questions regarding the European Value Maps, please
contact
Tamara Mchedlidze.
