General Social Survey, 1972-2014 [Cumulative File]

Since 1972, the General Social Survey (GSS) has been monitoring societal change and studying the growing complexity of American society. The GSS aims to gather data on contemporary American society in order to monitor and explain trends and constants in attitudes, behaviors, and attributes; to examine the structure and functioning of society in general as well as the role played by relevant subgroups; to compare the United States to other societies in order to place American society in comparative perspective and develop cross-national models of human society; and to make high-quality data easily accessible to scholars, students, policy makers, and others, with minimal cost and waiting. GSS questions include such items as national spending priorities, marijuana use, crime and punishment, race relations, quality of life, and confidence in institutions. Since 1988, the GSS has also collected data on sexual behavior including number of sex partners, frequency of intercourse, extramarital relationships, and sex with prostitutes.
The 2014 GSS has modules on quality of working life, shared capitalism, wealth, work and family balance, social identity, social isolation, and civic participation. In 1985 the GSS co-founded the International Social Survey Program (ISSP). The ISSP has conducted an annual cross-national survey each year since then and has involved 58 countries and interviewed over one million respondents. The ISSP asks an identical battery of questions in all countries; the U.S. version of these questions is incorporated into the GSS. The 2014 ISSP topics are National Identity and Citizenship. Demographic variables include age, gender, race, ethnicity, education, marital status, religion, employment status, income, household structure, and whether respondents were born in the United States.

自1972年起，综合社会调查（General Social Survey，简称GSS）便持续追踪社会变迁，探究美国社会日益复杂的运行形态。该调查旨在收集当代美国社会的相关数据，以监测并解释民众态度、行为与属性层面的趋势与恒定特征；全面审视社会整体的结构与运行机制，同时厘清相关亚群体所扮演的角色；将美国社会与其他国家社会进行对比，从而将美国社会置于比较研究视角之下，并构建人类社会的跨国分析模型；此外还致力于以极低的成本与等待时长，为学者、学生、政策制定者及其他群体提供便捷获取的高质量数据。综合社会调查的调研问题涵盖国民支出优先级、大麻使用、犯罪与刑罚、种族关系、生活质量以及对公共机构的信任度等议题。自1988年起，该调查还收集了性行为相关数据，包括性伴侣数量、性交频率、婚外情以及与妓女发生性关系等内容。
2014年的综合社会调查包含工作生活质量、共享型资本主义、财富状况、工作与家庭平衡、社会认同、社会孤立以及公民参与等调研模块。1985年，综合社会调查联合发起了国际社会调查项目（International Social Survey Program，简称ISSP）。自那时起，国际社会调查项目每年都会开展一项跨国年度调查，目前已有58个国家参与，累计受访对象超过100万人次。该项目在所有参与国均使用完全一致的问卷组块，其中美国版问卷被纳入综合社会调查的内容当中。2014年国际社会调查项目的调研主题为“国家认同与公民身份”。调研涵盖的人口统计学变量包括年龄、性别、种族、族裔、受教育程度、婚姻状况、宗教信仰、就业状态、收入水平、家庭结构以及受访者是否在美国本土出生。