DOI: 10.3886/icpsr38174
title: Korean General Social Survey (KGSS): Cumulative File, 2003-2018
title: Archival Version

description: The Korean General Social Survey (KGSS) is the Korean version of the General Social Survey (GSS), closely replicating the original GSS of the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.
The KGSS comprises four parts: The first part includes replicating core questions that cover the core content of Korean society.The second part is the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) module, which is a cross-national survey of 43 countries from all over the world.The third part is the East Asian Social Survey (EASS) module. The EASS is a joint survey of four East Asian countries (Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan) conducting a GSS-type social survey.The last part contains modules proposed by researchers.
This data collection is the cumulative version of the previous 15 years of survey data from 2003 to 2018 (not including 2015 and 2017). This dataset contains a total of 19,636 cases across 3,044 variables.
Respondents were asked for their opinions about Korean society, economic conditions, government performance, politics and political conditions. Additional questions were asked regarding the health care system, respondents' health behaviors, human rights, attitudes toward aging and the elderly, household composition, household income, education, occupation, environmental issues, international migration and so on. Demographic information collected includes age, sex, education level, household income, employment status, religious preference, political party affiliation, and political philosophy.
description: The weight variable, FINALWT, with six implied decimal places has been included and must be used in any analysis.
description: Response Rates: 2003: 1,315 respondents (66%)
2004: 1,312 respondents (66%)
2005: 1,613 respondents (65%)
2006: 1,605 respondents (64%)
2007: 1,431 respondents (57%)
2008: 1,508 respondents (60%)
2009: 1,599 respondents (64%)
2010: 1,576 respondents (65%)
2011: 1,535 respondents (61%)
2012: 1,396 respondents (56%)
2013: 1,294 respondents (52%)
2014: 1,370 respondents (55%)
2016: 1,051 respondents (47%)
2018: 1,031 respondents (43%)
description: <b>2003 - 2014</b>
The KGSS population of consists of non-institutionalized residents in Korea who are 18 years of
age or older and who can communicate in Korean. The sample size of the first (2003) and the
second (2004) surveys was 2,000 but it was increased to 2,500 with the third (2005) survey to
reduce standard errors and increase effective sample sizes. Between 2003 and 2005, data from
the Ministry of the Interior and Safety was utilized instead of constructing sampling frames of
households. The sample was selected using a multi-stage area probability sampling method.
<b>2016 - 2018</b>
The 2016 and 2018 KGSS population consists of non-institutionalized residents in Korea who are
18 years of age or older and who can communicate in Korean. The required number of persons were directly selected if a well-defined list of all adult persons was available. If such list was not
available, potential respondents were selected in four stages utilizing an area probability
sampling method. The first three stages select the required number of households. The fourth
stage selects an eligible person from each selected household.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: English Language Dataset
DS2: Korean Language Dataset
description: All national populace aged 18 years or older residing in households in South Korea. Smallest Geographic Unit: State
description: face-to-face interview