When someone goes public with a simple, straightforward, good idea, the audience usually scratches its collective head and wonders why no one thought of it before. That was my reaction as I read James A. Davis and Tom W. Smith′s short volume on the General Social Survey (GSS), the first of a new Sage series on major social science data bases. . . . I suspect there isn′t a GSS user out there who wouldn′t learn quite a bit from reading this book. . . . The knowledge it provides is partly historical, partly practical, and partly inspirational. . . . The practical sections make up a very readable and thorough discussion of its study design. . . . The inspirational part of the book, at least for me is Davis and Smith′s narrative on the variety of studies and collaborative activity that make the GSS a unique source for comparative, historical, methodological, and cross-sectional research. . . . For those who wonder whether their interesting questions have been answered in previous research, Davis and Smith provide basic guidelines for finding out who has done what with the GSS. --Contemporary Sociology "This series will lead to more informed analysis of existing data sources as well as more insightful interpretation of studies based on them (for series quote). . . . In this superb first volume for the series, James A. Davis and Tom W. Smith have provided a lucid introduction to the history, philosophy, sampling design, and evolving content of the General Social Survey (GSS). . . . This guide conveys with both cogency and liveliness the major features of the GSS. . . . The chapter on sampling design, which describes both the shift from a block-quota modified probability sample to a full probability sample and the switch from a 1970 sample frame to a 1980 sample frame, gives evidence of the commitment to high quality. . . . The book communicates an abiding responsiveness to the emerging data needs of a developing social science. . . . The responsiveness of the GSS to new data needs, amply evident in the book, is one of its most laudable features. . . . It is a tribute to Davis and Smith that their book stimulates the reader not only to order the GSS database straightaway and carry out tests of some intriguing propositions but also to make testable some previously untestable propositions by persuading the GSS to collect information on the propositions′ previously unmeasured parts. This book augurs well for the series." --Journal of the American Statistical Association "All of the questions my methods students have asked over the years (and all I′ve asked myself) are answered, and then some. . . . The guide is effective in making the data accessible." --Karen Campbell, Vanderbilt University "I think this series is a very good idea. Code books are intimidating for many users, and clear, approachable guides to major social science data sets will be well received. The User′s Guide to the GSS . . . will ultimately be such a resource. . . . The section on Design Effects . . . is a very good subject to include in such a guide." --Dan Krymkowski, Dartmouth College "A fine introduction to an invaluable social science data resource." --Judith Tanur, State University of New York, Stony Brook "Should provide helpful assistance to undergraduates whose exposure to the GSS may be their first experience with survey research and quantitative analysis. In addition, it should be a useful tool to more experienced analysts who need to quickly master the intricacies of the GSS." --Microcase Forum For any researcher, student, or teacher using the General Social Survey (GSS), this book is a must. Written by the two researchers who have directed the GSS since its inception in 1972, this practical, easy-to-use volume enables you to exploit this large data set more effectively than ever before. This volume clearly explains the "rotations" and "split ballots" in the study design, describes available samples (including the 1982 and 1987 oversamples of black respondents) and weights, and discusses interviewer training, quality control, validation, and coding procedures. In addition, it outlines the topics covered in the GSS, including the recurrent, replicated "core" items suitable for trend analyses, the annual topical modules on subjects of current interest, and the international modules produced in collaboration with the International Social Survey Program. And, this guidebook covers the various data sets in which GSS data are accessible, and directs you to the data banks that disseminate them. Both novice and experienced GSS users will find The NORC General Social Survey an invaluable tool.

The social sciences rely more on the comparative method than on experimental data mainly because the latter is difficult to acquire amongst human populations. The International Social Survey Programme has played a pioneering role in creating and sustaining methodologically-sophisticated mass attitude surveys across the globe. Starting in 1984 with five nations, it now encompasses forty-five nations spread over five continents, each administering an identical annual survey to a random sample of their population. Analyses of the data or descriptions of the methodology already appear in over 3,000 publications. This book contains new contributions from three dozen eminent scholars who analyse and compare the perceptions and attitudes of citizens across all five continents, nations and over time. Subjects range from inequality and the role of the state; ethnic, national and global identities; the changing relevance of religion, beliefs and practices; gender roles, family values and work orientations; household and society. Some chapters focus on methodological issues; others focus on substantive findings. This book sets new standards for cross-cultural research.

How do academic social scientists and survey professionals use social measurement techniques? How are these techniques applied to specific concepts in empirical research? This book is an important resource for students, academic and professional researchers, offering an overview of both new and practiced methods of social measurement for quantitative survey research. It will provide readers looking to investigate "hot" social science topics with a way of learning how key measurement techniques can be utilised in that topic in a practical way. Emerging from the editors' widely used work on an online social survey resource offering information on key social surveys and their questionnaires entitled ’Question Bank’, this book aims to take this material further. It elaborates on the problems involved with this resource type, providing a comprehensive and unique volume that will enable the reader to have the confidence to use this technique in their own research.

Above all, this book focuses on the application of sociodemographic survey questions. Based on theoretical foundations, it addresses the operationalization of variables and presents socio-demographic questionnaire modules for within- and across-country comparative survey research. The book pursues three main objectives: to provide a thorough and comprehensive overview of the survey instruments currently available for the measurement of sociodemographic variables in cross-national comparative research; to offer the reader a set of harmonized international demographic standards; and to show how these standards can be implemented by the various parties involved in international comparative surveys – from the central project coordinators, to the researchers on the national survey teams, to the fieldwork agencies and their interviewers, to respondents, and eventually, to the data processing experts preparing the datasets for comparative analysis. The book offers a valuable resource for researchers, practitioners and students actively involved in producing and analyzing sociodemographic survey data. The typical readers will be social science researchers, qualified consultants and professionals interested in the field of (comparative) survey research. The book can also serve as a useful supplement to introductory textbooks on survey methodology and is suitable for Bachelor and Master students of the social sciences.

Longitudinal research is a broad field in which substantial advances have been made over the past decade. Unlike many of the existing books that only address the analysis of information. The Handbook of Longitudinal Research covers design and measurement as well as the data analysis. Designed for use by a wide-ranging audience, this Handbook not only includes perspective on the methodological and data analysis problems in longitudinal research but it also includes contributors' data sets that enable readers who lack sophisticated statistics skills to move from theories about longitudinal data into practice. As the comprehensive reference, this Handbook has no direct competition as most books in this subject area are more narrowly specialized and are pitched at a high mathematical level. Contributors and subject areas are interdisciplinary to reach the broadest possible audience (i.e., psychology, epidemiology, and economics research fields) Summary material will be included for less sohisticated readers Extensive coverage is provided of traditional advanced topics

This book presents a systematic account on Poles’ attitudes toward ethnic, religious, political, and sexual minorities. It investigates Poland’s reputation as an intolerant, anti-Semitic, and homophobic country. Counter to a simplistic image of Poland as a hotbed of intolerance, the book shows that Polish intolerance has many faces. For one thing, Poles’ attitudes toward diversity vary from one group to another. For another, the extent to which Poles’ attitudes are more or less negative depends on the right or activity they are asked to support and who the respondents happen to be. The book is the most comprehensive and empirically sophisticated synthesis of Poles’ attitudes toward diversity to date. Previous research tends to describe Poles’ attitudes toward a single minority at a time and only examines subgroup differences in their thinking about diversity. The Many Faces of Tolerance is a multi-faceted analysis of Poles’ sentiments toward historically and currently discriminated against groups that assesses Poles’ acceptance of different minorities and authoritatively analyzes its sources. As part of this endeavor, the book develops a ranking of influences on Poles’ tolerance, undertakes a forecasting of future changes in tolerance in Poland, and proposes practical strategies to ameliorate existing intolerance.