Kiel Election Study 1987

Political attitudes as well as judgement on parties and politicians.

Topics: political interest; issue relevance and issue competence of
parties and politicians; judgement on current and future economic
situation in the Federal Republic as well as in comparison to the
previous year; party preference (ballot procedure); behavior at the
polls in the last Federal Parliament election; personal change of party
voted for; assumed significance of the composition of the new Federal
Government for the further development of the Federal Republic;
political parties as representatives for the interests of selected
population groups; classification of political parties and leading
politicians as well as self-assessment on a left-right continuum;
judgement on ability and sympathy scale for political parties and
leading politicians; party inclination and party supporter; change in
party inclination and earlier party preference; attitude to the Greens;
judgement on conduct and influence of trade unions in the Federal
Republic; attitude to construction of new nuclear power plants;
postmaterialism index; preference for security policies in the western
alliance or neutrality; security with or without nuclear weapons;
judgement on the importance of selected political factual questions for
one´s own election decision; preference for federal chancellor and
assumed election winner; necessity of a new party; attitude to profit
for entrepreneurs and judgement on the fairness of distribution in the
Federal Republic; satisfaction with life in the Federal Republic;
judgement on social inequality in the Federal Republic and attitude to
these differences; type of city of residence; residential status;
assumed winner in the next Federal Parliament election; assumption that
FDP and Greens will take seats in the Federal Parliament.

The following additional questions were posed in writing: determining
one´s own position on tax reform, on the securing of peace, on the
right to asylum, on abortion, on nuclear energy, on a more active role
for Germany in the world, on the fight against terrorism and on those
promoting environmental safety of industrial installations through
stricter laws, tax privileges for investments in environmental
protection as well as assumed position of the CDU/CSU, of the SPD, of
the FDP and of the Greens on these topics.

In Schleswig-Holstein the following questions were additionally posed:
issue relevance and issue competence of the state parties and state
politicians; party preference at the state level (ballot procedure);
behavior at the polls in the last state parliament election; personal
change in party voted for in state parliament elections; assumed
significance of the composition of the new state government for the
further development of Schleswig-Holstein; classification of state
parties and leading state politicians on a left-right continuum;
judgement on productivity and sympathy scale for state parties and
leading state politicians; preference for prime minister.

Demography: age (classified); date of birth; sex; marital status;
religious denomination; frequency of church attendance; school
education; occupational group; current and earlier employment; works
council at work and membership; monthly net income; number of persons
contributing to household income; sources of income; monthly net
household income; possession of a telephone; composition of household;
position of respondent in household; characteristics of head of
household; self-assessment of social class; union memberships in
household.

Interviewer rating: city size; state; state and administrative
district.

Also encoded was: length of interview; date of interview.