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Polls are at their best as indicators of public opinion when they allow comparisons over extended periods of time. Yet all too often changes in question working and in questionnare content make over-time comparisons impossible. This work overcomes this difficulty by bringing together for the first time a compendium of results using identically worded questions on a wide range of social, political, and economic topics of importance to the American people.
Chapter introductions summarize trends in the various areas surveyed and discuss problems of interpretation. The chapters on political behavior and attitudes present findings on party identification, political tolerance, voting, civil liberties, international affairs, and related issues. Chapters on work, the family, and sexuality cover such topics as job prestige and satisfaction, the role of women, divorce, family size, sex education, abortion, premarital and extramarital sex, homosexuality, and pornography. Other issues addressed include crime and violence, race, death and dying, life style, and general attitudes toward life. Trend analysis based on General Social Surveys conducted regularly by The National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago since 1972 is supplemented by data from 25 other sources extending as far back as the 1930s. The questions chosen are meaningful and standardized and have been asked in interviews over a significant period. Survey results are displayed in a highly readable format that facilitates comparisons over time. An appropriate choice for the library reference collection, this book is a valuable research tool and source for scholars in political science, psychology, and sociology, as well as journalists, policy makers, and other professionals concerned with public opinion.
Info autore
RICHARD G. NIEMI is Professor of Political Science at the University of Rochester. He is coauthor of
Generations and Politics,
The Political Character of Adolescence,
Vital Statistics on American Politics and has published articles and chapters on voting behavior and other topics in political science.
JOHN MUELLER is Professor of Political Science at the University of Rochester. His publications include
War, Presidents and Public Opinion,
Astaire Dancing,
Retreat from Doomsday: The Obsolescence of Major War, and numerous articles and commentaries on politics, foreign policy, and related topics.
TOM W. SMITH is Research Associate and Director of the General Social Survey at the National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago. He has published numerous articles, chapters, and reports dealing with social change, public opinion, and trend analysis.
