Detroit Area Study, 1971: Social Problems and Social Change in Detroit

The study was conducted during the spring and summer of
1971. The aim of the 1971 Detroit Area Study was to gather information
on social change in the Detroit area by replicating items from nine
earlier Detroit Area Studies that were conducted in 1953-1959, 1968,
and 1969. The criteria used for selecting the question items were that
they: (1) not be dated by wording or subject matter, (2) be relevant
to some problem of current public concern or a continuing issue of
sociological theory, and (3) be of the type that would be manageable
in a long interview on diverse subjects. The questions chosen to be
included in the 1971 Detroit Area Study examined issues such as values
in marriage, ideal number of children, satisfaction of wives with
marriage, decision-making and division of labor within a marriage,
attitudes toward women and work, child-rearing, social participation,
religious participation and beliefs, moral and job values, political
orientation and participation, evaluation of various institutions, and
racial attitudes. In addition to the items replicated from the
previous studies, respondents' attitudes toward the United States
sending troops to Vietnam were explored. Background variables
established respondents' age, sex, race, educational level, marital
status, occupation, class identification, and relationship to head of
household. Demographic information was also collected on the
respondent's spouse and parents.

本研究于1971年春夏两季开展。1971年底特律地区研究（Detroit Area Study）旨在通过复刻1953-1959年、1968年及1969年开展的九项早期底特律地区研究中的问卷条目，收集底特律地区社会变迁的相关信息。本次研究筛选问卷条目时遵循三项准则：其一，条目不会因措辞或主题而过时；其二，与当前公众关注的议题或社会学理论中的持续性议题相关；其三，适合在涵盖多元主题的长访谈中使用。纳入1971年底特律地区研究的问题涵盖婚姻价值观、理想子女数量、妻子的婚姻满意度、婚姻内部的决策与劳动分工、对女性与工作的态度、育儿方式、社会参与、宗教参与与信仰、道德与职业价值观、政治倾向与参与、对各类社会制度的评价，以及种族态度。除复刻既往研究的条目外，本研究还探讨了受访者对于美国向越南派遣军队的态度。本研究设置的背景变量涵盖受访者的年龄、性别、种族、受教育水平、婚姻状况、职业、阶层认同，以及其与户主的关系。此外，还采集了受访者配偶与父母的人口统计学信息。