DOI: 10.3886/icpsr34348.v1
title: South Korean General Election Panel Study: Two Waves, 2008
title: Version 1

description: The South Korean General Election Panel Study 2008 examined vote determinants of Korean voters and the causes and dynamics of changes in voter preferences. The survey was conducted from March to April 2008 in two waves with a large-scale panel of 3,503 representing the nation's gender, age, region, and education proportions. The study analyzed factors that influence the formation and change of voter preferences through three broad theoretical frameworks: (1) The sociological model that explains voter preference as a reflection of major social fragmentation (education, gender, income, religion, region, etc.); (2) The psychological model of the Michigan School that explains voter preference formation and change as activation of party identification in United States or Western elections, and regional identification in Korea as a proxy; (3) The rational voter model that posits that individuals, after calculating their own interests, support candidates or parties that possess the policies and ideology to maximize those interests. The South Korean Election Panel studies utilize "tracking core questions": questions that repeatedly track the change in vote determinants. These questions focus on attitudes of candidate factors, political party factors, election campaigns, issues, and policies. In this study, respondents were asked about: their voting behavior, party preferences, exposure to different media sources, the economy, various politicians, opinions about the election, opinions about President Lee Myung-bak and his administration, and the general election. Demographic information includes age, gender, religion, education level, occupation, hometown, homeownership type, and family income.
description: The data are not weighted. The data contain two weight variables: WT and WTSA. No additional information was provided about the weights.
description: The panel study sample was selected using stratified random sampling. The data for setting the quotas were determined from the Resident Registration data as of December 30, 2007, published by the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs, with the quotas set according to demographic proportions by age, by gender, and by region. The sample was allocated by crossing the proportions of each region (the 16 metropolitan self-governing bodies), gender (male/female), and age group (29 years of age and under, 30-39 years of age, 40-49 years of age, 50 years of age and over). The quotas were applied separately to each sample group from the master sample which was gathered and specially operated by Hankook Research Company and from the newly selected sample.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: South Korean General Election Panel Study: Two Waves, 2008
description: All individuals over the age of 19 who were eligible to vote in South Korea. Smallest Geographic Unit: region
description: computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI)Whenever possible, the questionnaire used the wording of international surveys, such as the ANES questionnaire, to allow international comparisons. When no appropriate questions existed, new question items were developed.