November 21, 1997

Dear Colleagues,

We are now pleased to announce a general meeting of all CSES collaborators to be held (once again!) in Berlin Germany. You may not have heard from the CSES planning committee in some time, but we have been quite active: meeting informally when possible and discussing over email the current status and future direction of CSES. The product of these discussions is the next general meeting of CSES Collaborators, to be sponsored jointly by the Science Center Berlin for Social Research and the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research. Professor Klingemann and his colleagues at the Center, Professor Max Kaase and Dr. Bernhard Wessels, will serve as our local organizing committee. The CSES Secretariat, under the direction of Professor Virginia Sapiro at the ISR, will coordinate advance registration and respond to inquiries about the meeting. Professor Jacques Thomassen will convene the meeting on behalf of the CSES Planning Committee.

What is our agenda? The key topics to be addressed include the current status of data collections, issues that arise in using the CSES module or preparing the data for deposit, and preparations for analysis and dissemination of findings from the first round of data collection. Taking advantage of the plenary gathering, we can initiate early planning to lead us towards the second round of data collection.

For those participating in the CSES endeavor, this meeting will serve as a turning point, moving from planning stages through implementation and preliminary analyses of cross-national data in a collectively coordinated fashion. To encourage the widest possible participation, hotel, meals and ground transportation will be provided free of charge for all of those attending, through the sponsorship of the Science Center Berlin for Social Research and the Institute for Social Research.

In the rest of this folder you will find a tentative schedule of events, registration materials, and information about travel and local arrangements. Please read the materials carefully and respond as appropriate, according to the instructions provided. Please be sure to review the section, "Who Should Attend the Collaborators Meeting?" on the next page for information on how participation will be determined. On the back page you will find contact information for the key groups and individuals involved in this meeting. Please feel free to call on any one of us if we can answer questions about the meeting. We have also included in this mailing a world map with the countries participating in CSES marked in green, based on the most current information we have about collaborations.

On behalf of the entire Planning Committee, we strongly encourage representation from every collaborating country at this meeting in Berlin. We believe you will find this a worthwhile and enlightening few days that will accomplish a great deal to further the overall goals of the project and assist you in your involvement with CSES. We look forward to seeing you in April.

Yours sincerely,

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Tentative Agenda
CSES Collaborators Meeting

Who Should Attend the CSES Collaborators Meeting?

Unfortunately, we cannot issue an open invitation to everyone with an interest in CSES - our guest list would be much longer than we can accommodate! A hotel room, all meals, and local transportation will be provided to those who attend. In order to attend the CSES meeting, you must register and have your registration accepted. Enclosed is a registration form that everyone who wishes to attend must complete and return to the CSES Secretariat by January 7, 1998.

> Priority will be given to the principal organizer/investigator for CSES in each country (or his or her representative). Only one person from each group should attend. Countries where data collection has already occurred or is in the active planning stages will have first priority. Countries where use of the CSES module is being contemplated or planned for the future will have the next priority. (Scholars with no major responsibility in conducting the CSES data collections will be accommodated on a "space available" basis, but their accommodations would not be subsidized.)

You will receive confirmation of your registration in February.

Please direct all questions and inquiries about participating in the meeting to:

Kathryn Cirksena
CSES Secretariat
Box 1248
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248