ProTrust: Status and trust in occupational groups

The database (ProTruSt) is based on a large survey of the Norwegian people and provides information on occupational prestige, what prestige / status the professions should have and confidence in various professions and professions.

The database provides information on professional prestige and confidence in professionals in 34 different professions, including: 

Doctor, judge, professor, lawyer, civil engineer, engineer, civil economist, police, principal in primary school, associate professor, social economist, IT consultant, pharmacist, physiotherapist, nurse, teacher , priest, journalist, electrician, plumber, carpenter, child welfare worker, social worker, preschool teacher, nurse, industrial worker, farmer, personal trainer, hairdresser, daycare assistant, post office shop clerk, taxi driver and cleaner.

This provides opportunities to investigate how people perceive these different groups. In addition, the database has information about which factors can affect status and trust (for example, salary and career opportunities can affect a professional's status / prestige).

The data collection was carried out by TNS Gallup using a web form sent to a representative sample of the population between 18 and 80 years. 4,007 people responded, and the response rate was 41%, and the survey is weighted according to public statistics.

Description of questions:

The questions are to some extent inspired by the European Social Survey. This gives the opportunity to compare with previous findings where the questions overlap, but also to add new knowledge where we have collected extra info for professional status / prestige, what status the professions should have, and confidence in professions.

All these three variables are new in the Norwegian context. 

Example questions:

• Different occupations have different status. Here is a scale ranging from 1 denoting lowest status to 7 denoting highest status. How do you think most people will consider the status of the profession?
• What status do you think each of the following occupations should have?
• Different people have different degrees of trust in professionals. Here is a scale ranging from 1 which denotes no confidence, to 7 which denotes very high confidence. How much confidence do you have for the following professional groups?

Additional questions include confidence in the public education sector, health sector and confidence in several central institutions (eg. judiciary, police, parliament, universities).

The data also include background variables such as gender, social background, age, marital status, place of residence, occupation and occupational activity, education, the position generator which informs about respondents' social networks, and several questions about their political preferences.