World Values Survey (WVS) Data

## Overview This folder contains cleaned and processed data from the 7th Wave of the World Values Survey, merged with World Bank GDP indicators. The WVS is a global research project that explores people's values and beliefs across different countries and cultures. **Used in:** Week 2 (Data Documentation), Week 3 (Report Writing) ## Files ### Processed Data - **`WVS_random_subset2000.csv`** - Random subset of 2,000 respondents stratified by country - **`WVS_GDP_merged_data.csv`** - Country-level aggregated data merged with GDP and population indicators - **`WVS_subset.csv`** - Selected variables from full dataset (all respondents, waves 1-7) ### Documentation - **`codebook.pdf`** - Official WVS codebook with variable definitions and survey methodology - **`README_WVS.md`** - Data processing documentation and variable descriptions ### Code - **`cleaning.R`** - R script that processes raw WVS data and creates the cleaned datasets ## Data Structure ### WVS_random_subset2000.csv - **Observations:** ~2,000 individual respondents - **Variables:** Demographics (country, interview date, weights) + survey items (Q1-Q89, Q260-Q290) - **Purpose:** Manageable sample for exploration and practice ### WVS_GDP_merged_data.csv - **Observations:** Country-year level (Wave 7 only) - **Variables:** Aggregated survey responses + World Bank indicators - **Key variables:** - `B_COUNTRY_ALPHA`: ISO3 country code - `A_YEAR`: Survey year (varies by country, 2017-2023) - `Q1`-`Q89`: Aggregated survey responses (means for numeric, modes for categorical) - `GDP_USD_PPP_per_capita`: GDP per capita in PPP terms - `Population`: Country population ## Usage Notes - Negative codes (-1 to -5) in original data have been recoded as NA - Random sampling uses seed `20250124` for reproducibility - GDP data covers 2017-2023 to match survey timing variations - See `README_WVS.md` for detailed processing steps ## Research Applications Common research questions using this data: - Relationship between income level and trust/happiness - Cultural differences in gender attitudes - Economic development and social values