Polish General Social Survey, 1992-1994

Conducted annually since 1992 by the Institute for Social Studies at the University of Warsaw, the Polish General Social Survey (PGSS) is designed to measure opinions and social characteristics of Polish society. The content of the survey changes somewhat from year to year, but core questions and the order in which they are asked have been kept intact, thus enabling comparative analyses across time. Some core PGSS questions replicate questions asked in the General Social Surveys of the United States and Germany. PGSS core variables include socioeconomic and demographic variables with an emphasis on stratification measures (occupation, labor force status, education, income) of respondents and their spouses and parents. In addition, there are attitudinal variables concerning political opinions and ideology, national spending, religious beliefs, social inequality, job and occupational values, tolerance, educational values, attitudes toward other countries, traditional sex roles, family issues, abortion, and homosexuality. Other variables gauge subjective well-being, social class identification, satisfaction with different spheres of life, and confidence in different public institutions. Respondents were also queried about their voting behavior, social interactions, religiosity, health, smoking, and drinking. Each year, additional topical modules of questions from the International Social Survey Program have been added: "Inequality II" (1992), "Environment" (1993), and "Family and Changing Gender Roles II" and "Sexual Behavior" (1994).