Data on cultural participation are available via the specific modules on social and cultural participation attached to the EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC-2006) and to the European Adult Education Survey (AES, 2007 wave).
The EU-Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) is a harmonised, annual Eurostat survey aiming at collecting statistics on income, poverty and social exclusion. The common framework defines the harmonised lists of target primary (annual) and secondary (every four years or less frequently) variables to be transmitted to Eurostat; common guidelines and procedures; common concepts (household and income) and classifications aimed at maximising comparability of the information produced.
The reference population in EU-SILC includes all private households and their current members aged 16 and more, residing in the territory of the countries at the time of data collection.
In 2006, a special module on cultural and social participation was attached to the standard survey to collect data on cultural participation, in particular:
- frequency of going to cinema
- frequency of going to a live performance
- frequency of visiting cultural sites
This additional module was mandatory and covered all EU Member States.
The Adult Education Survey (AES) was carried out in the EU-27, EFTA and candidate countries between 2005 and 2008 as a pilot exercise. It proposed a common EU framework to collect information on lifelong learning among the population aged 25-64 years. A special optional module on cultural participation was added to the standard questionnaire. This module was not included in all countries; when it was included, it did not systematically cover all questions. The special module investigated the same cultural practices as the SILC (cited above) and additionally:
- taking part in the public performance involving singing, dancing, acting or music
- doing artistic activities like painting, drawing, sculpture, (including computer graphics, designing websites, etc.)
- frequency of reading newspapers
- frequency of reading books and number of books read
- number of books at home
Since 2002, a Community survey on ICT (information and communication technologies) usage in households and by individuals has been providing data on ICT equipment and use of the Internet for different purposes (also related to culture).
In 2008, a special module on ‘Use of advanced services’ was added to the ICT survey, allowing more detailed analysis of Internet usage for cultural purposes.
Additionally, data on e-commerce include information about buying via Internet of some cultural products (books, DVDs, etc.).
