DOI: 10.3886/icpsr04482
title: CBS News Monthly Poll #1 and Call-Back Poll, October 1996
title: Archival Version

description: This poll, fielded October 7-9, 1996, is part of a
 continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on
 the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues.
 The survey solicited public opinion prior to and immediately following
 the vice-presidential debate held October 9, 1996. Respondents were
 asked to give their opinions of President Bill Clinton and his
 handling of the presidency and issues such as foreign policy. Several
 questions asked how much respondents had been paying attention to the
 presidential campaign, whether they were likely to vote in the
 election for president, which candidate they would vote for if the
 presidential elections were being held that day, whether they had
 favorable opinions of the candidates, and who they expected to win.
 Opinions were collected on the condition of the national economy, how
 taxes would be affected based on which candidate was voted president,
 whether respondents preferred the federal budget deficit to be reduced
 or taxes to be cut, and whether the government could reduce the
 deficit and cut taxes at the same time. Respondents were asked whether
 they watched Sunday's debate between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole, which
 candidate did the best job or won, whether they learned anything new
 about the candidates, and how likely it was that they would watch the
 October 9 vice-presidential debate. The call-back poll, conducted on
 October 9, 1996, concerned respondents' reactions about the debate
 between Al Gore and Jack Kemp. Views were sought on whether
 respondents watched the debate, which candidate did the best job or
 won, whether the candidates addressed issues that mattered, whether
 respondents had changed their minds about their choice for vice
 president, and for whom they would vote had the elections been held
 that day. Demographic variables include sex, race, age, household
 income, education level, political party affiliation, political
 philosophy, voter participation history and registration status,
 whether respondents had any children starting ninth grade, length of
 time living at current residence, and type of residential area (e.g.,
urban or rural).
description: The data contain a weight variable that should be used for
analysis.
description: Stratified random digit dialing. 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 Monthly Poll #1 and Call-Back Poll, October 1996
description: Adult population of the United States aged 18 and over
having a telephone at home.
description: telephone interview(1) The data available for download are not weighted,
 and users will need to weight the data prior to analysis. (2) The data
 and documentation for this study were acquired from the
 Roper Center for Public
 Opinion Research. (3) Value labels for unknown codes were added in
 the variable Q8. (4) The variables AREA_CODE and EXCH_CODE were
 recoded for confidentiality. (5) The probable electorate is accessible
 by using the WEIGHT_2 variable. (6) The original data file contained
 three records per case and was reformatted into a data file with one
 record per case. (7) Several codes in the variable IWR_ID contain
 diacritical marks. (8) Variables R1-R7 refer to the call-back poll
fielded October 9, 1996.