These initial datasets include variables from several surveys that have been harmonised for comparative purposes, even if the original question text and response scales differed.
No prior knowledge of harmonisation strategies is required and a basic familiarity with survey research concepts is helpful but not essential.
Ex-post data harmonisation
Ex-post data harmonisation enables researchers to leverage existing survey data despite differences in survey design, question wording, and response scales.
This can help enrich datasets and strengthen secondary analyses by combining multiple data sources, and contribute to more robust, comparable research.
If you want to learn how to work confidently with existing harmonised survey data and/or create your own harmonised datasets, this course is for you!
Harmonised data training
The first section of the training course focuses on the NextGen Harmonised Data Gateway, specifically which surveys were reviewed, how experts harmonised variables, and what datasets are now available.
Users can then learn how survey data from different sources can be made comparable, whether variables can be harmonised, and understand which strategies can be applied to harmonise response scales.
Section 3 explains how to download the datasets, understand more about variables and how harmonisation adds value, and how to merge datasets.
The training then focuses on how to assess the quality of harmonised measures, before guiding participants in creating their own datasets.
Video series
A series of three new videos provides a comprehensive introduction to the NextGen Harmonised Data Gateway developed within the Infra4NextGen project. In these videos, Nidanur Basturk (GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences) presents the three elements of the Gateway:
The Variable Database
The first video provides an introduction to the searchable Variable Database, which serves as an entry point for discovering conceptually similar questions asked across different countries and time points over the last 20 years.
The Harmonisation Toolbox
The second video explores the Harmonisation Toolbox, which guides researchers through the process of making survey data comparable. The Toolbox provides open-source R scripts and detailed methodological guidelines for aligning question texts and response scales.
Harmonised Datasets
The final video in the series introduces the ready-for-use Harmonised Datasets. These datasets handle data preparation and harmonisation across the five key EU youth policy themes.
Watch these videos to get an idea and practical examples about how the Gateway’s features can help you with your data harmonisation work.
Support sessions
An event being held online from 11am-12.30pm (CEST) on Tuesday 9 June 2026 will allow users to ask questions about data harmonisation and/or the online training.
This initial session will include a short talk from the Harmony team. Harmony is a Natural Language Processing (NLP)-based tool that helps researchers find conceptually similar survey questions across different datasets.
Following this kick-off session, the team will offer additional open Q&A sessions:
30 June 2026, 11-11.30am (CEST)
28 October 2026, 11-11.30am (CET)
1 December 2026, 11-11.30am (CET)
Another session from 11am-12.30pm (CEST) on 29 September 2026 will feature a talk by Dr. Rabia Karatoprak Ersen on the evaluation of test equating and linking methods for harmonisation.
