Danish Panel Election Study 1971 and 1973

The Danish Panel Election Study 1971 and 1973 is a combination of data material from DDA-0007: Danish Pre- and Post-Election Study 1971 and DDA-0008: Danish Election Study 1973 containing all the variables from the two studies for the respondents who participated in both studies. #A) The Danish Pre- and Post-Election Study 1971 is a two-wave panel study, which was carried out in connection with the general election on 21 September, 1971. #The first wave, which was carried out in August 1971, before the writs of the election were issued, examines the views, interests and habits of the population in a politically 'normal' situation. The first wave contains questions about the respondent's interests in general and political interest in particular and sources of information used in connection with these interests; time spent on reading newspapers, watching TV and listening to the radio, as well as special areas of interest in connection with these activities; attitudes to a large number of current problems, in particular the respondent's attitude to the EC; and, finally, the respondent's rating of the political parties in Denmark with a personal assessment of each political party's affiliation to specific social groups. #The second wave, which was carried out in October 1971, examines the decision-making process and the factors influencing the respondent. The second wave contains questions about the respondent's political interest and the respondent's preferences as regards sources of information (i.e. media) in connection with the respondent's political interest; the degree to which the respondent has been interested in the election campaign on the radio, on TV and in the newspapers, etc., as well as the respondent's participation in political discussions with friends and acquaintances; the respondent's participation, or non-participation, in previous elections, possible affiliation to one political party and party changes, if any; attitudes to currrent political problems, in particular political problems, and the respondent's personal part in politics, as well as the respondent's attitude to the EC; and, finally, the respondent's rating of the political parties in Denmark and the respondent's attitude (sympathy/dislike) to a number of social groups and politicians. #B) The Danish Election Study 1973 was carried out after the general election on 4 December, 1973, and was based on interviews with some of the respondents from the Danish Pre- and Post-Election Study 1971 (see DDA-0007), which means that it constitutes the third wave of the panel study. In this third wave the respondent is asked to name the problems she/he finds it most important for the politicians to solve and to name the party she/he believes will do something to solve these problems; furthermore, the study contains questions about the respondent's interest in the election campaign as it is covered in the mass media; the respondents's participation in discussions in connection with the election campaigns and the respondent's political interest in general; the respondent is asked to put in order of priority a number of possible retrenchment sectors and to indicate the sectors in which cuts should not be made in public expenditure; the respondent's attitude to tax deductions and tax increases; attitude to a number of current issues, including political issues and the EC; the decision-making process in connection with party choice on the part of the respondent; the respondent's party preference and affiliation to a political party, if any; and, finally, the respondent's rating of political parties and leading politicians on a so-called 'feeling thermometer'