DOI: 10.3886/icpsr02617.v1
title: British General Election Study: Scottish Election Survey, 1997
title: Version 1

description: The 882 respondents to the Scottish Election Survey are a subset of those surveyed for the BRITISH GENERAL ELECTION CROSS-SECTION SURVEY, 1997 (ICPSR 2615). The aims of the Scottish Election Survey survey were (1) to contribute to the construction of a time series on electoral change at a time when political divergence was one of the key features of political behavior within the United Kingdom (UK), (2) to model political behavior and attitudes in Scotland with regard to Britain as a whole, the nations and regions of the UK, and within Scotland itself, (3) to understand nationalism in Scotland in the wider European context, and (4) to provide a benchmark for assessing the outcomes of Scottish Parliament elections and against which to assess future constitutional change. Respondents were asked for their opinions on the possibility of a separate Scottish Parliament, the Scottish National Party, how the European Union will affect Scotland, the economic benefits to both England and Scotland of Scotland's being part of the UK, social class differences between England and Scotland, the relationship between Protestants and Catholics in Scotland, the importance of a Scottish heritage, and the faith held by the Scottish that British political parties will work in their interest. Additionally, topics repeated from the Cross-Section Survey include the 1997 campaign, participation in 1997 local elections, British political parties, trust in government, images of British leadership, the European Union, Northern Ireland, nuclear weapons, unemployment, inflation, nationalization and privatization of companies, redistribution of income, women's rights, the role of government in social policy, abortion, ethnic minorities, the British economy, political knowledge, and the future of governmental institutions such as the House of Lords. Background information on respondents includes age, sex, race, ethnicity, political party, political orientation, marital status, number of members in household, social class, employment history, health insurance status, citizenship, country of birth, voter registration and participation history, household income, education, religion, parents' employment history, parents' voting behavior, spouse's employment history, and union membership.
description: Datasets: 
 
 DS1: Dataset
description: British General Election Survey Series
description: (1) The data are provided as an SPSS portable file. (2) 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. (3) The codebook, frequencies, user guide, and data collection instruments are 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.