ANES 1988-1992 Merged Senate Study File

This data collection, focusing on Senate elections, combines data from a three-part series (1988, 1990, 1992) of Senate studies. Over the course of these three elections voters in each of the 50 states were interviewed, and data were gathered on citizen evaluations of all senators at three stages of their six-year election cycles. Both survey data and contextual data for all 50 states are included. The survey data facilitate the comparison of House of Representatives and Senate races through the use of questions that generally parallel those questions used in election studies since 1978 concerning respondents' interaction with and evaluation of candidates for the House of Representatives. However, because of redistricting in the early 1990s, the congressional districts for the 1992 respondents could not be pre-identified. The survey instrument was, therefore, redesigned to some degree, cutting some of the House-related content for the 1992 survey. The 50-state survey design also allows for the comparison of respondents' perceptions and evaluation of senators who were up for re-election with those in the second or fourth years of their terms. Topics covered include respondent's recall and like/dislike of House and Senate candidates, issues discussed in the campaigns, contact with House and Senate candidates/incumbents, respondent's opinion of the proper roles for senators and representatives, a limited set of issue questions, liberal/conservative self-placement, party identification, media exposure, and demographic information. Contextual data presented include election returns for the Senate primary and general elections, voting indices for the years 1983-1992, information about the Senate campaign such as election outcome predictions, campaign pollster used, and spending patterns, and demographic, geographic, and economic data for the state. Also included are derived measures that reorganize the House of Representatives and Senate variables by the party and incumbency/challenger status of the candidate and, for Senate variables only, by proximity to next election. Additionally, a number of analytic variables intended to make analyses more convenient (e.g., Senate class number and whether the respondent voted for the incumbent) are presented.