Australian Election Study, 1998

The 1998 Australian Election Study is the fifth in a series of surveys beginning in 1987 that have been timed to coincide with Australian Federal elections. The series also builds on the 1967, 1969 and 1979 Australian Political Attitudes Surveys. The Australian Election Studies aim to provide a long-term perspective on stability and change in the political attitudes and behaviour of the Australian electorate, and investigate the changing social bases of Australian politics as the economy and society modernise and change character. In addition to these long-term goals they examine the political issues prevalent in the election and assess their importance for the election result. The 1998 survey replicates many questions from the 1987, 1990, 1993 and 1996 Australian Election Studies, but also introduces a variety of new questions including a section on the constitution, rights and minorities. Other sections cover the respondent's interest in the election campaign and politics, their past and present political affiliation, evaluation of parties and candidates, alignment with parties on various election issues, evaluation of the current economic situation, attitudes to a range of election issues including the GST, immigration, unemployment, the Telstra sale, and education, views on the monarchy and the importance of Australia becoming a republic, attitudes to issues relating to the environment and defence, assessment of the current level of racial prejudice operating in Australia today, and opinions on various social policy issues including euthanasia, abortion, equal opportunities, sex discrimination, and government assistance to Aborigines. Background variables include level of education, employment status, occupation, type of employer, position at workplace, trade union membership, sex, age, own and parents country of birth, parents' political preferences, religion, marital status, income, and where applicable, the occupation, trade union membership and political preference of the respondent's spouse.

《1998年澳大利亚选举研究》是自1987年起的一系列调查中的第五次，该系列调查旨在与澳大利亚联邦选举同步进行。该系列研究亦在1967年、1969年和1979年的澳大利亚政治态度调查的基础上不断深化。澳大利亚选举研究致力于为澳大利亚选民的政治态度和行为变迁提供一个长期视角，并探究随着经济和社会的现代化及变革，澳大利亚政治的社会基础所发生的转变。除了这些长期目标外，研究还审视选举中的主要政治议题，并评估其对选举结果的重要性。1998年的调查复制了1987年、1990年、1993年和1996年澳大利亚选举研究中的许多问题，同时引入了包括宪法、权利和少数群体在内的多种新问题。其他部分涵盖了受访者对选举运动和政局的兴趣、他们的过去和现时政治归属、对政党和候选人的评估、在各个选举议题上与政党的立场一致，以及对当前经济形势的评估。这些议题包括商品及服务税、移民、失业、澳大利亚电信公司出售以及教育等问题。此外，还涉及对君主制的看法、澳大利亚成为共和国的重要性，对与环境及国防相关问题的态度，对当前澳大利亚种族偏见程度的评估，以及对包括安乐死、堕胎、平等机会、性别歧视以及政府对原住民的帮助等各项社会政策问题的意见。背景变量包括教育程度、就业状况、职业、雇主类型、工作场所职位、工会会员资格、性别、年龄、出生国以及适用时，受访者的配偶的职业、工会会员资格和政治偏好。