The 2008 Social Survey

As in previous years, this year’s survey included several questions that were phrased identically to those of earlier surveys; this is meant to ensure efficient monitoring of changes in public attitudes regarding issues on which it has been questioned repeatedly. Some of the questions – those touching directly on the most fundamental aspects of social confidence – constitute the basis for calculating the Taub Index of Social Confidence, an index that quantifies the Israeli public’s sense of social confidence and gives a fuller picture than that which can be obtained from responses to specific questions. An index of this kind, which can be used for comparison purposes across time periods and population groups (for each of which an index is separately calculated), expands and enriches our understanding of public attitudes and sentiments (see below).

This paper appears as a chapter in the Center’s annual publication, Israel’s Social Services 2008, Yaakov Kop (editor).