WAPOR Statement on Social Science Data Collection and Access

The World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) expresses its commitment to promoting social science data collection and open access for the public good. This statement is a response from our global association of public opinion and survey researchers to recent trends around the world that jeopardize societies’ well-being by eliminating the collection of, or access to, significant data.

Social sciences provide an open window to the intricate dynamics in human behaviors and decision-making. Data serve as the foundation of empirical social sciences, enabling societies to observe and evaluate the full spectrum of human experiences – the good, the negative experiences, and everything in between – by giving voices to everyone in the community regardless of their background and status. This makes data an essential tool for improving human conditions, including health, education, well-being and economic stability. The livelihood of everyday citizens is intertwined with such open data in open societies. Government decisions about combating negative outcomes, such as unemployment and the substance use epidemic, rely on objective data. Social science data informs where a business opens its store. Community literacy organizations can assess the community’s needs and prioritize them because of social science data. Because of such powerful attributes, social science data foster democracy. In support of the principles underlying an open science framework in open societies, sharing data within and between nations is an essential element of such efforts, pursuant to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommendations.

The power of social science data shines when its collection and dissemination belong openly in the public domain when governments promote transparency in the data collection methods and remove barriers to data access. Without transparency, social science data are potentially subject to manipulation. Whether intended or not, this may cause harm to open societies and the people living within them. When data can be accessed only by a privileged few or those who can afford the necessary resources, an imbalance in power is created and becomes compounded. Rigorous scientific methods, their transparent description, and unconstrained and open access to social science data are central to WAPOR’s mission to advocate for the freedom to collect social science data, to underscore the need for high-quality social science data collection methods, and to affirm the freedom to publish results and make data available to others through open public access. WAPOR is concerned about recent attempts to hinder and eliminate social science data collection and its open distribution in open societies. WAPOR is a global advocate of freely available social science data in free and pluralist societies since 1947.