DOI: 10.3886/icpsr26829.v1
title: CBS News Monthly Poll #1, November 2008
title: Version 1

description: This poll, fielded November 1-3, 2008, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. This poll interviewed 1,091 adults nationwide, including 987 registered voters. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way George W. Bush was handling the presidency, whether their family was financially better off compared to four years ago, and whether a person's race affected their chances of getting ahead in today's society. Registered voters were asked how much attention they were paying to the 2008 presidential campaign, whether they had voted in a Democratic or Republican primary or caucus that year, the likelihood that they would vote in the general election, for which presidential candidate they would vote, the strength of their support for this candidate, and whether they planned to vote in person on election day, by mail or absentee ballot, or at an early voting location before election day. Those who had already voted were asked for which presidential candidate they had voted. Views were also sought on presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain and vice-presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, marital status, household income, political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status and participation history, length of time at current residence, military service, religious preference, and whether respondents considered themselves to be a born-again Christian.
description: The data contain weight variables that should be used in analyzing the data. According to the CBS News Web site, the data were weighted to match United States Census Bureau breakdowns on age, sex, race, education, and region of the country. The data were also adjusted for the fact that people who share a telephone with others have less chance to be contacted than people who live alone and have their own telephones, and that households with more than one telephone number have more chances to be called than households with only one telephone number.
description: A variation of random-digit dialing using primary sampling units (PSUs) was employed, consisting of blocks of 100 telephone numbers identical through the eighth digit and stratified by geographic region, area code, and size of place. Phone numbers were dialed from RDD samples of both standard land-lines and cell phones. Within households, respondents were selected using a method developed by Leslie Kish and modified by Charles Backstrom and Gerald Hursh (see Backstrom and Hursh, SURVEY RESEARCH. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1963).
description: Datasets: 
DS1: CBS News Monthly Poll #1, November 2008
description: Persons aged 18 and over living in households with telephones in the United States.
description: telephone interviewThe data available for download are not weighted and users will need to weight the data prior to analysis.The CASEID variable was reformatted in order to make it a unique identifier.Responses in the variable Q103 (ZIP Code) were blanked to protect respondent confidentiality.A truncated value label in variable EDUC was corrected.This data collection was produced by CBS News, New York, NY.