ABOUT THE GENERAL SOCIAL SURVEY (GSS)

 

The General Social Survey (GSS) is a survey of a representative sample of the American public. In particular, it is a representative sample of "English‑speaking persons 18 years of age or over, living in noninstitutional arrangements within the United States".

 

The GSS has been conducted either yearly or every other year since 1972 by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), which is affiliated with the University of Chicago. The survey is funded by the National Science Foundation. In the early years, about 1,500 people were interviewed in each wave. In recent years, between about 3,000 and 4,500 people have been interviewed in each wave. The individuals surveyed are different from year to year. The years the GSS has been conducted and the size of the sample each year are listed below:

 

Year Sample Size

1972 1,613

1973 1,504

1974 1,484

1975 1,490

1976 1,499

1977 1,530

1978 1,532

1980 1,468

1982 1,506 (354 in African-American oversample)

1983 1,599

1984 1,473

1985 1,534

1986 1,470

1987 1,466 (353 in African-American oversample)

1988 1,481

1989 1,537

1990 1,372

1991 1,517

1993 1,606

1994 2,992

1996 2,904

1998 2,832

2000 2,817

2002 2,765

2004 2,813

2006 4,510

 

Total 51,020

 

From 1972 to 1974, quota sampling was used to select the individuals in the sample. Both quota and random sampling were used in 1975 and 1976. Starting in 1977, each sample in the GSS was selected at random.

 

The GSS asks questions that cover an exceptionally broad range of topics that cover both basic characteristics (such as age and years of education) and social attitudes (such as attitudes about gun control and abortion).

 

Some of the core questions in the GSS are asked of all the respondents. Other questions are asked of only a randomly selected portion of the sample each year. As a result, more questions can be asked without over-burdening any one respondent.

 

Some questions in the survey instrument (called the permanent questions) are asked every time the survey is administered. Other questions (called rotating questions) are asked periodically. And some questions (called occasional questions) are asked on only a single survey.

 

Some of the commonly used variables in the GSS data set:

 

AGE AGE OF RESPONDENT

CLASS SUBJECTIVE CLASS IDENTIFICATION

DEGREE RS HIGHEST DEGREE

EDUC HIGHEST YEAR OF SCHOOL COMPLETED

MARITAL MARITAL STATUS

PARTYID POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION

POLVIEWS THINK OF SELF AS LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE

RACECOMB RACE OF RESPONDENT

RELIG RS RELIGIOUS PREFERENCE

SEX RESPONDENTS SEX

WRKSTAT LABOR FRCE STATUS

YEAR GSS YEAR FOR THIS RESPONDENT