Posted: 28 September 2007
Measuring Irish attitudes before and after the boom years
Over the past two decades, Irish society has witnessed a radical transformation. The economically vibrant Ireland of today is virtually unrecognisable from the Ireland of the bleak 1980s. However, these changes were not always matched by improved quality of life and, in many instances, were accompanied by persistent inequalities of wealth, education and gender.
In a new book entitled ‘Changing Ireland in International Comparison’ edited by Betty Hilliard and Maire Nic Ghiolla Phadraig, from the UCD School of Sociology, the Irish social and attitudinal changes over the course of the Celtic Tiger years are set in an international comparative perspective.
Using data from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) - an international co-operative project of cross-national survey research conducted on an annual basis across 41 countries – experts from the Social Science Research Centre at UCD and their associate Professor Michael Hout, Professor of Sociology at the University of California Berkley, provide findings and insights in several key areas of change: economic aspects, family and gender roles, and cultural changes.
The range of topics covered include: educational stratification, attitudes to social inequality, commitment to work, welfare regimes, attitudes to marriage, attitudes to women’s employment, environmental attitudes, attitude to Catholicism, national identity and attitudes to new immigrant populations.
The data collection for the book was funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS). And the publication of the book by Liffey Press was sponsored by Irish Life Corporate Business.
