General Social Survey
Encyclopedia
The General Social Survey (GSS) is a sociological survey
used to collect data
on demographic characteristics and attitudes of residents of the United States
. The survey is conducted face-to-face with an in-person interview by the National Opinion Research Center
at the University of Chicago
, of a randomly-selected sample of adults (18+) who are not institutionalized. The survey was conducted every year from 1972 to 1994 (except in 1979, 1981, and 1992). Since 1994, it has been conducted every other year. The survey takes about 90 minutes to administer. As of 2010 28 national samples with 55,087 respondents and 5,417 variables had been collected.
The data collected about this survey includes both demographic information and respondent's opinions on matters ranging from government
spending to the state of race relations to the existence and nature of God
. Because of the wide range of topics covered, and the comprehensive gathering of demographic information, survey results allow social scientists to correlate demographic factors like age, race, gender, and urban/rural upbringing with beliefs, and thereby determine whether, for example, an average middle-aged black male respondent would be more or less likely to move to a different U.S. state
for economic reasons than a similarly situated white female respondent; or whether a highly educated person with a rural upbringing is more likely to believe in a transcendent God than a person with an urban upbringing and only a high-school education.
GSS results are freely made available to interested parties over the internet, and are widely used in sociological research. The data are generally available in formats designed for statistical programs (e.g. SAS/SPSS/Stata).
The GSS was recently linked to the National Death Index. This freely-available dataset allows researchers to explore the association between variables in the General Social Survey and human longevity. For instance, it is possible to explore the association between happiness and life expectancy.
Statistical survey
Survey methodology is the field that studies surveys, that is, the sample of individuals from a population with a view towards making statistical inferences about the population using the sample. Polls about public opinion, such as political beliefs, are reported in the news media in democracies....
used to collect data
Data
The term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which...
on demographic characteristics and attitudes of residents of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The survey is conducted face-to-face with an in-person interview by the National Opinion Research Center
National Opinion Research Center
NORC at the University of Chicago, established in 1941 as the National Opinion Research Center, is one of the largest and most highly respected social research organizations in the United States. Its corporate headquarters are located on the University of Chicago campus...
at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, of a randomly-selected sample of adults (18+) who are not institutionalized. The survey was conducted every year from 1972 to 1994 (except in 1979, 1981, and 1992). Since 1994, it has been conducted every other year. The survey takes about 90 minutes to administer. As of 2010 28 national samples with 55,087 respondents and 5,417 variables had been collected.
The data collected about this survey includes both demographic information and respondent's opinions on matters ranging from government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
spending to the state of race relations to the existence and nature of God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. Because of the wide range of topics covered, and the comprehensive gathering of demographic information, survey results allow social scientists to correlate demographic factors like age, race, gender, and urban/rural upbringing with beliefs, and thereby determine whether, for example, an average middle-aged black male respondent would be more or less likely to move to a different U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
for economic reasons than a similarly situated white female respondent; or whether a highly educated person with a rural upbringing is more likely to believe in a transcendent God than a person with an urban upbringing and only a high-school education.
GSS results are freely made available to interested parties over the internet, and are widely used in sociological research. The data are generally available in formats designed for statistical programs (e.g. SAS/SPSS/Stata).
The GSS was recently linked to the National Death Index. This freely-available dataset allows researchers to explore the association between variables in the General Social Survey and human longevity. For instance, it is possible to explore the association between happiness and life expectancy.
See also
- German General Social SurveyGerman General Social SurveyThe German General Social Survey is a national data generation program in Germany, which is similar to the American General Social Survey ...
(Allgemeine Bevölkerungsumfrage der Sozialwissenschaften - ALLBUS) - British Social Attitudes Surveys (BSA)
- International Social Survey ProgrammeInternational Social Survey ProgrammeThe International Social Survey Programme is a collaboration between different nations conducting surveys covering topics which are useful for social science research. The ISSP researchers develop questions which are meaningful and relevant to all countries which can be expressed in an equal...
(ISSP)
External links
- The GSS Website allows users to search GSS information, test hypotheses, and look for interesting correlations.
- www.gss.norc.org
- SDA - GSS 1972-2010 Cumulative Datafile - Tool from Berkeley for querying GSS data
- http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/4/385/abstract - Information about the GSS-NDI dataset