DOI: 10.3886/icpsr07868
title: British Election Study: February 1974, Cross-Section
title: Archival Version

description: This data collection is part of a continuing series of
 surveys of the British electorate, begun by David Butler and Donald
 Stokes at Nuffield College, Oxford, in 1963, and continued at the
 University of Essex. This cross-section study was designed to yield a
 representative sample of eligible voters in Great Britain near the
 time of the general election on February 28, 1974. As with other
 surveys in the series, electors in Northern Ireland and the Scottish
 Highlands and Islands were excluded from the sampling frame. Personal
 interviews with 2,462 members of the British electorate took place in
 two waves between March and May. Respondents answered questions
 relating to their attitudes toward the general election and the
 strength of their political opinions and interest. Respondents were
 asked about their trust in government and their opinions of the
 Conservative, Labour, Liberal, Scottish Nationalist, and Plaid Cymru
 political parties (e.g., perceived differences among them, and
 knowledge and perception of party position/record). Respondents were
 also asked to reveal their past voting behavior (e.g., their first and
 second choices in the general election, other parties considered,
 choices in the 1970 and 1966 elections, frequency of discussion about
 politics, and direction and strength of party identification).
 Respondents were then asked for their views on the general election
 results along a variety of dimensions. Respondents also identified
 groups with too much or too little political power, as well as groups
 with whom they themselves identified. They were asked to rate several
 political parties and politicians and to express their views regarding
 a range of social issues relating to domestic and foreign affairs,
 including the mass media (e.g., attention to television and newspapers
 and perceived bias in newspapers), opinions on prices, strikes in
 general, the miners' strike, pensions, the Common Market,
 nationalization, social services, Communists, devolution, income tax
 and wage controls, and Britain's dependency on other countries (i.e.,
 the United States, Russia, France, Germany, and Australia).
 Respondents were also asked to predict incomes, unemployment, and
 Britain's future economic situation. Other sets of questions probed
 for opinions on social mores and life satisfaction (e.g., life in
 general, personal financial status, today's standards, local
 government, change, and getting ahead). Background information
 includes age, sex, marital status, employment status, socioeconomic
 group, experience of unemployment in household, income, occupation,
 degree of supervision, and responsibility in job (for self and
 spouse). Information on father's vote, party choice, strength of party
 support, occupation, employment status, and social grade is also
included.
description: Respondents were selected into a multistage,
self-weighting, stratified, probability sample.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: British Election Study: February 1974, Cross-Section
description: The eligible British electorate living south of the
Caledonian Canal and excluding Northern Ireland.
description: (1) The data and accompanying documentation are
 disseminated, under an agreement with the UK Data Archive (UKDA),
 exactly as they were received, without modification by ICPSR. This
 agreement also provides that ICPSR will disseminate the data and
 documentation only for use within ICPSR member institutions. (2) The
 text documentation provided by the data producer includes a
 description of the study and references (User Guide). (3) For more
 information regarding this study, please see the
 UKDA
Web site.