Omnibus Study, Spring 1973

This study was sponsored by the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan for researchers who needed data on national samples but only required part of an interview. The survey covered the following major topics: economic situation, quality of life, governmental service agencies, income tax, and background questions. In the economic section, respondents were asked how they viewed their own and the country's economic situations in comparison to the previous year, and what their expectations were for the next 12 months. Questions referred to personal finances, employment, price changes, and the national business situation. The economic variables are also included in SURVEY OF CONSUMER ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR, SPRING 1973 (ICPSR 7475). The second section focused on respondents' life satisfaction. General questions about quality of life were followed by a more extensive inquiry into specific aspects of respondents' lives: financial security, freedom, independence, safety, religious fulfillment, perceptions of pressure, and adaptability. The third section focused on respondents' experience with and attitudes toward various governmental agencies, particularly in the areas of health, welfare, and employment. Government service agencies at the local, county, state, and national levels were taken into consideration. The fourth section posed a series of questions about income taxes, tax rates, income tax withholding, and income tax refunds in 1973 as compared to 1972. The survey probed the extent to which people were aware of a change in tax law that had resulted in too much money having been withheld in 1972. Respondents were also asked what they did, or intended to do, with the extra refunds received in the spring of 1973. Demographic information includes sex, age, ethnicity, level of education, marital status, employment status, occupation, family income, home and car ownership, and multiple residences, if applicable.