DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03921.v3
title: CBS News/New York Times Monthly Poll #2, September 2003
title: Version 3

description: This poll, conducted September 28-October 1, 2003, is part
of a continuing series of monthly polls that solicit opinions on
political and social issues. Respondents were asked to give their
opinions of President George W. Bush and his overall job performance,
as well as his handling of the situation with Iraq, foreign policy
issues, and the economy. Questions probed respondents' views on the
state of the economy, whether they expected a change for the worse or
the better, and how the state of the economy had changed since
President Bush took office. Respondents were asked if they were
registered to vote and how much attention they paid to the 2004
presidential campaign. Opinion was gathered on various Democratic
candidates for the presidential nomination, including former Illinois
Senator Carol Moseley Braun, General Wesley Clark, former Vermont
Governor Dr. Howard Dean, North Carolina Senator John Edwards,
Missouri Congressman Richard Gephardt, Massachusetts Senator John
Kerry, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Connecticut Senator Joe
Lieberman, Reverend Al Sharpton, and Florida Senator Bob Graham. They
were also asked whether they were likely to vote in the Republican or
Democratic primary or caucus, how they voted in the 2000 election, and
how often they vote in primaries or caucuses. Respondents were asked
who they would like to see win the Democratic nomination and who they
believed would have a chance of winning. Respondents also indicated
who they expected to win in November, regardless of the outcome of the
Democratic Party nomination. Respondents were asked whether personal
family finances, the economy, employment and unemployment, cost of
prescription drugs, national security, education, and taxes had
positively or negatively changed since President Bush took office.
Questions gauged respondents' confidence in President Bush's ability
to handle an international crisis or to make economic decisions.
Respondents were asked whom they thought President Bush cared about:
everyone, Blacks, Hispanics, and the lower, middle, or upper
classes. Many questions delved into the respondents' perceptions of
President Bush's honesty and integrity and compared that perception to
those of current and former political figures. General opinions on
Republicans and Democrats were sought as well as whether or not either
or both parties had a clear plan for the country. Opinions about the
war in Iraq were probed, including whether President Bush was clear on
the length and cost of the war. Questions addressed whether or not the
United States should spend an extra $87 billion on the Iraq War and
whether the outcome and the removal of Saddam Hussein were worth the
cost and the loss of American life. Opinions were sought on who should
have led the effort in Iraq and whether other countries respected
President Bush. Respondents were also asked what they believed was the
real cause of the Iraq War, and whether they thought Saddam Hussein
was tied to the September 11 attacks. The importance of religion in
the respondents' lives was also gauged. Demographic variables include
political affiliation, union membership, voting record in 2000,
marital status, religious preference, education level, age and age
group, Hispanic nationality, race, income, and other possible phone
numbers.
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. 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/New York Times Monthly Poll #2, September 2003
description: Adult population of the United States aged 18 and
over having a telephone at home.
description: (1) 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, documentation has been converted to
Portable Document Format (PDF), data files have been converted to
non-platform-specific formats, and variables have been recoded to
ensure respondents' anonymity.The ASCII data file may have been replaced if the previous version was formatted with multiple records per case. A frequency file, which contains the authoritative column locations, has been added to the collection.