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, GSS）便持续追踪社会变迁，探究美国社会日益复杂的运行态势。该调查旨在采集当代美国社会的相关数据，以监测并解释民众在态度、行为与属性层面的趋势与恒定特征；全面检视社会整体的结构与运作逻辑，同时剖析相关亚群体所扮演的角色；将美国社会与其他国家的社会形态进行对比，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周期，向学者、学生、政策制定者及其他群体提供易于获取的高质量数据。
GSS的调查问题涵盖国家支出优先级、大麻使用、犯罪与刑罚、种族关系、生活质量以及对各类公共机构的信任度等议题。自1988年起，GSS还新增了性行为相关数据采集，内容包括性伴侣数量、性交频率、婚外情以及嫖娼行为等。
2014年的GSS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专题模块。1985年，GSS联合发起了国际社会调查项目（International Social Survey Program, ISSP）。自此之后，ISSP每年都会开展跨国调查，目前已有58个国家参与其中，累计访问受访者超过100万人次。ISSP在所有参与国采用完全一致的问卷题组，其中美国版的问卷题目被纳入GSS的调查内容。2014年的ISSP调研主题为“国家认同与公民身份”。
该数据集包含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。