DOI: 10.3886/icpsr02836.v1
title: Dutch Parliamentary Election Study, 1998
title: Version 1

description: This survey focuses on the Netherlands Second Chamber
 parliamentary election of May 6, 1998. Part 1, Main Study, contains
 data from the first wave of interviews conducted before the election
 (March 30-May 5, 1998) and after the election (May 11-July 4, 1998),
 and a self-completion questionnaire given to respondents at the end of
 the second wave. Topics addressed during Wave 1 included: the
 respondent's interest in politics, the most important problems facing
 the nation, government policy satisfaction, attitudes toward voting,
 perception of public opinion poll results, political issues such as
 euthanasia, income differences, asylum seekers, European unification,
 ethnic minorities, and European Union (EU) membership, sympathy shown
 by political parties and politicians, political knowledge of leaders
 and coalitions, social and political goals, and the presence of a
 cultural community. Topics covered during Wave 2 included
 respondent's interest level in the campaign, electoral behavior,
 coalition preference, views on the importance of issues including
 nuclear plants, traffic, financial deficit, crime, health care, and
 the environment, satisfaction with democracy in the Netherlands,
 attention paid to regional differences, faith in prospective premiers,
 external and internal political efficacy, political cynicism, social
 isolation, acceptance of political decisions, civic competence and
 political participation, and social class images. Items in the
 self-completion questionnaire focused on trust in political
 institutions, including the police, parliament, and judges, media
 consumption, whether the respondent had been approached by a political
 party, whether he/she had tried to convince others to vote, and the
 demographic characteristics of those with whom the respondent
 discussed matters of importance. Background information on Part 1
 respondents includes age, sex, political party, political orientation,
 electoral participation history, marital status, employment status,
 household income, religion, education, household composition, and
 demographic characteristics of parents and household members. Part 2,
 Nonresponse Study, Stimulus-Effect Study, and Corresponding Parts of
 Main Study, contains data from interviews conducted with respondents
 unwilling to participate in the Dutch Parliamentary Election Study
 (Nonresponse Study) and data from face-to-face or telephone
 interviews conducted with a random sample of respondents
 (Stimulus-Effect Study). Topics addressed in these studies concerned
 neighborhood characteristics, including degree of urbanization, income
 level, social class, and education, interest in politics, and voting
 intention. Background information on Part 2 respondents includes age,
sex, electoral participation history, and household composition.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Main Study
DS2: Nonresponse Study, Stimulus-Effect Study, and Corresponding Parts of Main Study
description: (1) The data are provided as SPSS portable files. (2)
 The codebook identifies 957 variables for Part 1 and 47 variables for
 Part 2, but with the inclusion of the Steinmetz Archive study number
 (V0001), these totals increase by 1. (3) This collection has not been
 processed by ICPSR staff. ICPSR is distributing the data and
 documentation for this collection in essentially the same form in
 which they were received. When appropriate, hardcopy documentation has
 been converted to machine-readable form and variables have been
 recoded to ensure respondents' anonymity. (4) The codebook is
 provided as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format
 was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using
 PDF reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on
 how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided through the
ICPSR Website on the Internet.