General social surveys, 1972-1988
By: principal investigators, James A. Davis and Tom W. Smith
Series: ICPSR -- 8990; ICPSR (Series) -- 8990
Publisher: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor
Published: 1988
Place of publication: Ann Arbor, Mich
Language: und
Format: [computer file] :
Subjects: Social conditions; Economic conditions; Politics and government
Other titles: GSS; General social survey, 1972-1988
Description: The General Social Survey (GSS) has been conducted by the National Opinion Research Center annually since 1972 except for the years 1979 and 1981. The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research has prepared a cumulative dataset that merges 15 years of the GSS into a single file, with each year or survey constituting a subfile. The content of each year's survey changes slightly as some items are added to or deleted from the interview schedule. Annual topical modules designed to investigate new issues or to expand the coverage of an existing subject have been part of the GSS since 1984. The 1988 topical module concerns religious socialization, behaviors, and beliefs. Other topics covered have been socio-political participation (1987), the feminization of poverty (1986), social networks (1985), and the role of the military (1984). The GSS also has expanded in recent years by adding a crossnational component. In 1985 the first multinational collaboration between the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy, and Austria focused on the role of government. Other topics addressed have been social support (1986), and social inequality (1987).
Notes: ICPSR data class: Class IV.

Chronological coverage: 1972-1988. Data collected: February, March and April of 1972-1978, 1980, and 1982-1988.

Personal interviews.

Survey data.

United States.

National Science Foundation. SES-8118731.

Card Image data format, with SPSS control cards. Data for surveys contained in previous cumulative files remain substantively the same, while particulars of record structure have changed to accommodate the inclusion of 1988 data.

Codebook available.

Part number: 1 ; file structure: rectangular ; case count: 23,356 ; variable count: approx. 1,327 ; LRECL: 80 ; records per case: 26.

National Opinion Research Center multi-stage area probability national sample.

Universe: English speaking persons aged 18 and over, living in noninstitutional arrangements in the United States.