DOI: 10.3886/icpsr35119.v2
title: ANES 1980 Merged File
title: Version 2

description: This study is part of a time-series collection of national surveys fielded continuously since 1948, and designed to present information on Americans' social backgrounds, enduring political predispositions, social and political values, perceptions and evaluations of political groups and candidates, opinions on questions of public policy, and participation in political life. In 1980 the American National Election Studies Center conducted several integrated survey data collections occurring at strategically chosen periods in the course of the election year. Content areas targeted for special attention were respondents' party identification, their attitudes regarding public policy issues, public perceptions of, and responses to political leadership, as well as the exploration of social networks in the crystallization of the vote choice. The Pre- and Post-Election Surveys file [ICPSR 7763] includes the traditional election survey data, as well as contextual measures that include election returns, interest group ratings of incumbents, and Federal Election Commission campaign contribution data. The Major Panel File [ICPSR 35120] presents a year-long four-wave panel. The ANES 1980 Merged File is a complex dataset prepared to facilitate the analytic use of the large body of data gathered in 1980. Virtually all of the 1980 data are included in this file, and merged as appropriate for panel samples. In addition to the traditional pre- and post-survey data and the Major Panel data, this dataset contains an independent cross-section sample (C-1) of 965 cases that were interviewed in the midst of the primary season during the three-week "window" following the early April primaries. These respondents were re-interviewed following the general election (C-4) with a telephone interview which was essentially the same as that administered to Wave Four Panel respondents. The individual files for each of the 1980 surveys have been reformatted to a standardized data record structure in such a manner that the data for identical questions across studies are always stored under the same variable number and in a fixed and specified record location in the integrated file. Filters are included to allow users to retrieve specific samples from the file. Vote validation data are included in the file.
description: There are no weight variables in this dataset.
description: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection: Performed recodes and/or calculated derived variables.; Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes..
description: Datasets: 
 
 DS1: Dataset
description: American National Election Study (ANES) Series
description: face-to-face interview, telephone interview 
 The 1980 Integrated File consists of eight discrete data collections that fall under three categories: The year-long Major Panel study encompasses four interviews designated P1, P2, P3, and P4, which together constitute an independent cross-section and three waves of reinterviews;; The Minor Panel study, with two waves of interviews designated C1 and C4, consists of another independent cross-section and a reinterview;; The traditional Pre-Post study comprises the last two interviews, designated C3 and C3po, which represent a third independent cross-section and reinterview.; Additionally, a Vote Validation study took place in January and February 1981 to determine if the respondents in the original cross-sections (P1, C1, and C3) were registered to vote (and, if so, whether they had voted) (variables VIN4001-VIN4012). To subset by one or more of these data collections, the appropriate variable from the range VIN1760-VIN1763 may be used:Interview: P1 -- Variable:VIN1760 -- Value: 1; Interview: C1 -- Variable: VIN1760 -- Value: 2; Interview: P2 -- Variable: VIN1761 -- Value: 3; Interview: P3 -- Variable: VIN1762 -- Value: 4; Interview: C3 -- Variable: VIN1762 -- Value: 5; Interview: C3po -- Variable: VIN1763 -- Value: 6; Interview: P4 -- Variable: VIN1763 -- Value: 7; Interview: C4 -- Variable: VIN1763 -- Value: 8 ; Descriptions of the Integrated File components are as follows (listed in order according to beginning date of interviewing period):P1 (Major Panel wave 1) Jan 22-Feb 25, personal, 1008 IWs.; C1 (Minor Panel wave 1) Apr 2-May 2, personal, 965 IWs.; P2 (Major panel wave 2) Jun 4-Jul 13, personal, 843 IWs.; P3 (Major panel wave 3) Sept 2-Oct 1, personal, 769 IWs; C3 (Pre-Post wave 1) Sept 2 -Nov 3, personal, 1614 IWs.; C3po (Pre-Post wave 2 ) Nov 5-Dec 17, personal, 1408 IWs.; P4 (Major panel wave 4) Nov 5-Nov 25, telephone, 764 IWs; Interview C4 (Minor panel wave 2) Nov 5-Nov 26, telephone, 818 IWs;  
 For further information please see the ANES Data Center Web site.
description: United States citizens of voting age living in private households in the 48 contiguous states. Smallest Geographic Unit: congressional district
description: Multistage representative cross-section.