International Social Survey Program: Religion II, 1998

The International Social Survey Program (ISSP) is an ongoing program of crossnational collaboration. Formed in 1983, the group develops topical modules dealing with important areas of social science as supplements to regular national surveys. The 1998 religion module includes data from Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, the Slovakian Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. Comparable to the initial module on this topic (see INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SURVEY PROGRAM: RELIGION I, 1991 [ICPSR 6234]), this survey covers three main topic areas: (1) general attitudes toward various social issues such as government, the legal system, sex, and the economy (e.g., opinions about personal happiness, government responsibilities toward citizens, abortion, male and female roles in the household, premarital cohabitation, personal trust and trust in others, confidence in various institutions such as legislatures, businesses, churches, courts, and schools, legal fairness, and the economic climate), (2) religion (e.g., role of religious leaders, role of science in relation to religion, attitudes about God, heaven, hell, and life after death, personal and family members' religious status, attendance at religious services, miracles, the Bible, the purpose of life, prayer, volunteer work, and religious commitment), and (3) demographics (e.g., marital status, age, sex, education, occupation, family composition, ethnicity, region, size of community, and political affiliation).