The survey on "Attitudes to Domestic Abuse in Ireland", commissioned by Cosc, the National Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence, examined people's attitudes and beliefs including their understanding of what domestic abuse is; how common people think it is; any differences in how domestic abuse affects men versus women; and what people would do if they suspect someone is a victim.

The target population of the survey was the general population, that is, people normally residing in Ireland and older than 18 years. Persons who did not have a landline or persons living in institutions (for example, prisons, hostels, etc.) were not covered by this survey. The survey combined probability sampling of households with quota sampling of eligible members of these households. Households were randomly sampled within geopolitical areas using random digit dialling techniques that generated telephone numbers. The telephone survey was restricted to landlines. Unlisted as well as listed telephone numbers were used and the sample of households was representative at the level of major regions in Ireland. The target sample size was 2,000 respondents. This sample size should be large enough to generate reliable estimates, to facilitate group comparison and subgroup analyses. Interlocking quota control was by age (4 brackets: 18-24, 25-44, 45-64, 65+), gender and economic situation (at work, not at work) that mirror the multivariate distribution of these characteristics among the Irish population (according to the CSO census of population 2006).

The national statistics office was not involved in the survey/data collection effort.