Volunteering and social capital in Vorarlberg - Monitoring 2024

On behalf of the Office for Volunteering and Participation (FEB) of the Vorarlberg Provincial Government, the Empirical Social Sciences research group conducted a standardized survey on volunteering and social capital in the Vorarlberg population aged 15 and over.

Project objective

Surveys on volunteering and social capital in Vorarlberg conducted in 2010, 2014 and 2019 by the former research center for social and economic sciences at Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences formed the starting point for this project. As part of the most recent commission to the Empirical Social Sciences research group, various aspects of volunteering and social capital in the Vorarlberg population were to be surveyed again on the basis of a fundamental revision and update of the survey instrument.

In order to obtain data that was as representative as possible, a stratified random sample of people aged 15 and over with their main place of residence in Vorarlberg was drawn and invited to take part in the online survey via a postal letter. The questionnaire covered various dimensions of social capital (e.g. trust, network indicators), various characteristics of volunteering (e.g. volunteering context and practice) as well as obstacles and the volunteering potential of people who do not volunteer. In addition, various dimensions of quality of life were surveyed.