DOI: 10.3886/icpsr23443
title: CBS News/New York Times Monthly Poll, April 2007
title: Archival Version

description: This poll, fielded April 20-24, 2007, is a part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. Respondents were asked to say whether they approved of the way George W. Bush was handling his job as president and other issues such as the war in Iraq, to rate the condition of the environment in the world and their own community, and whether the Republican party or the Democratic party was more likely to protect the environment, make the United States less dependent on foreign oil, and ensure the United States has enough sources of energy. Respondents were asked several questions about protecting the environment, including which environmental problem was the most important, whether they would vote for a candidate based on their views of the environment, the responsibility of federal and state governments to set environmental protections, drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic National Wildlife refuge in Alaska, and whether it was more important to stimulate the economy or protect the environment. Respondents were asked whether the Iraq war has affected the price of gasoline, whether they would favor an increased tax on gasoline if it would reduce the United States' dependence on foreign oil or if the money was used for research into renewable sources such as solar and wind energy, and whether using ethanol as a substitute for foreign oil is a good idea. Respondents were asked whether they would approve of building more plants powered by coal to generate electricity, whether using coal, natural gas, nuclear power, and/or renewable sources to generate electricity was a good idea, and whether global warming needs to be a priority for government leaders. They were also asked about the causes of global warming and ways to reduce global warming. Other topics included the firings of United States attorneys by the Justice Department and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, United States troop levels and withdrawal from Iraq, whether respondents recycle and purchase recycled and/or energy-efficient products, car pool to work or use mass transit, and whether they would seriously consider buying or leasing a hybrid vehicle. Additional topics included the laws covering the sale of handguns, gun control, and the Virginia Tech shooting incident, respondents' own financial situation, horse racing and the Triple Crown races, professional basketball, and athlete's use of steroids. Demographic information includes sex, age, race, education level, household income, marital status, military service, religious preference, frequency of religious attendance, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status and participation history, the presence of children under 18 and household members between the ages of 18 and 24, and whether respondents had any children planning to attend a four-year college.
description: The data contain weight variables that should be used in analyzing the data. According the CBS News Web site, 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 phone with others have less chance to be contacted than people who live alone and have their own phones, and that households with more than one telephone number have more chances to be called than households with only one phone 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. 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, April 2007
description: Persons aged 18 and over living in households with telephones in the contiguous 48 United States.
description: telephone interviewThe data available for download are not weighted and users will need to weight the data prior to analysis.This data collection was produced by CBS News, New York, NY.The CASEID variable was reformatted in order to make it a unique identifier.