Transcript Sociology - University of Saskatchewan

General Social Survey
Kiran Doranalli
Lucy Li
Data & GIS Library Services, U of S Library
https://library.usask.ca/data/
September 11, 2008
General Social Survey (GSS) - Overview
Primary objectives/Aims:
 Collect data on social trends in order to
monitor changes in living environment
and welfare of Canadians over time.
 Provide instant information on specific
social policy issues of existing and
emerging interests.
Target population for GSS:
Population living in private households in the 10
provinces
Survey collects data over 1 year
Sample size till 1998 - ~ 10,000 persons
Sample size from 1999 to 2006 - ~ 25,000 persons
CANSIM via Statistics Canada
Method of data collection:
Computer assisted telephone interviewing
(CATI)
Response rate over years for GSS is approx.
80%.
Cycles of GSS available till date:
Cycle no. Year
GSS cycle topic Focus issue
1
1985
Health
Social support
2
1986
Time use, social
mobility
Language
3
1988
Victimization
Victim services
4
1989
Education, work
and retirement
No focus issue
5
1990
Family and friends
No focus issue
6
1991
Health
Various health topics
7
1992
Time use
Culture, sport and unpaid work activities
Cycle no. Year GSS cycle topic Focus issue
8
1993
Victimization
Alcohol and drug abuse
9
1994
Education, work
and retirement
Transition into retirement
10
1995
Family
Effect of tobacco smoke
11
1996
Social support
Tobacco use
12
1998
Time use
Sports participation/ culture
13
1999
Victimization
Spouse, senior abuse/ perceptions
14
2000
Technology –
Computer and
internet
No focus issue
15
2001
Family
No focus issue
16
2002
Social support and
aging
Retirement planning and experience
17
2003
Social
engagement
No focus issue
18
2004
Victimization
No focus issue
19
2005
Time use
Social networks/ trust/ transportation
20
2006
Family
Family transition
GSS cycle 1 (Health & Social support): 1985
Cycles in 1991 (6), 1996 (11), 2002 (16).
Target population
– 15 years of age and older in Canada
– 15-64 years of age (telephone interview), 65 and older (personal
interview)
– Exclude Yukon, Northwest territories and Nunavut and full-time
residents of institutions.
Reference period – Sept to Oct 1985
GSS cycle 1 (Health & Social support): 1985
Brief of variables measured

Short and long term disability

Height and weight

Well-being

Health problems

Smoking

Alcohol use

Physical activity

Sleep

Use and help of health care
facilities
GSS cycle 1 (Health & Social support): 1985 - Survey
Design
Employed 3 different sampling techniques
A. Persons aged 15 to 64
a. Elimination of non-working Banks method
(NewFoundland and Ontario) – Details in section 4.2 of Code book
b. Waksberg method (Remaining provinces) – Details in section
4.1 of Code book
B. Persons aged 65 and older
a. Survey based on Canadian Labour Force Survey Frame
and sampling procedures – Details in section 4.3 of code book.
GSS cycle 9 (Education, work & Ret.): 1994
Cycles in 1989 (4).
Target population
– 15 years of age and older in Canada
– Exclude Yukon, Northwest territories and Nunavut and full-time
residents of institutions.
Reference period – Jan to Dec 1994
GSS cycle 9 (Education, work & Ret.): 1994
Brief of variables measured

Work and education in the service economy

New technologies and human resources

Emerging trends in education and work
GSS cycle 9 (Education, work & Ret.): 1994
– Survey Design

Data collected from Jan to Dec 1994 were evenly distributed
over 12 months to counterbalance the seasonal variation in the
information gathered

Sample selected using Elimination of Non-Working Banks
technique of Random Digit Dialing (RDD).

Supplementary sample was added to RDD from Labour Force
Survey

For method description please refer section 4.2 in code book.
GSS cycle 18 (Victimization): 2004
Previous cycles in 1988 (3), 1993 (8), 1999 (13).
Target population
– 15 years of age and older in Canada
– Exclude Yukon, Northwest territories and Nunavut and full-time
residents of institutions.
Reference period – Jan 2004 to Dec 2004
GSS cycle 18 (Victimization): 2004
Brief of variables measured

Age, sex and marital status

Stalking of respondent

Perceptions, history and risk

Crime incident report

Criminal victimization screening

Other crime events

Abuse by current spouse/partner

Main activity of respondent

Abuse by ex-spouse/partner


Spousal abuse report
Education of respondent,
spouse/partner, parents

Ex-spousal abuse report

Activities of spouse/partner

Housing characteristics of respondent

Ex-spousal abuse report
Method references
Waksberg, J. 'Sampling methods for Random Digit Dialling,'
Journal of the American Statistical Association, 73, (1978):40-46.
RDD; A bank of telephone numbers is a set of 100 numbers with the
same first eight digits (i.e. the same Area Code-Prefix-Bank ID).
Thus 613-951-9180 and 613-951-9192 are in the same bank, but
613-951-9280 is in a different bank.
U of S Data Archive
 Data Lib webpage
 By subject
 Select the file
 U of S data archive
 Download the file and unzip it
 Codebooks and other documentations are available in
TXT or PDF format (some are available in print
copy—search the library catalogue)
 Restrictions: DLI license
Codebook
 What is a codebook?
– “A codebook describes and documents the questions asked or items collected
in a survey. Codebooks and study documentation will provide you with
crucial details to help you decide whether or not a particular data collection
will be useful in your research. The codebook will describe the subject of the
survey or data collection, the sample and how it was constructed, and how
the data were coded, entered, and processed. The questionnaire or survey
instrument will be included along with a description or layout of how the
data file is organized. Some codebooks are available electronically, and you
can read them on your computer screen, download them to your machine, or
print them out. Others are not electronic and must be used in a library or
archive, or, depending on copyright, photocopied if you want your own for
personal use.”
--ISSR Social Science Data Archive, UCLA
General Content of GSS Codebooks:
Description of the study or cycle – who, why and how it was
done?
Sampling information – population studied, how was sample
drawn and number of response rate.
Technicality about files – number of observations or variable,
length of record, number of records per observations.
Structure of the data within file – eg., hierarchial, multiple
cards etc…
Details about the data
Questionnaire and responses
Example (Data Dictionary):
The fourth
Variable;
the 4th column in
spreadsheet
Question Text -Exact text of a
question as delivered to a
respondent.
The variable starts from
column 19 ends in
column 20 in datafile
Data dictionary is found from Pages C1 to C 200. This example is on Page C2.
Example cont.
 Here is what the same information might look like in a data file:
The first line is not a part of data, we put it here to
identify the position of the variable more easily.
If a variable A is noted as “Field: 2 Position: 5-8”,
then variable A’s value starts from column 5, ends in
column 8.
And this variable A is the second variable. You will find it
in column B in spreadsheet.
 This is how the data looks like after you put them
into SPSS.
3. Ask Data Library Staff
Office: 2nd Floor, Main Library
Appointments recommended
Email us at [email protected]
Kiran Doranalli
(8841)
Darlene Fichter
(7209)
(on sabbatical)
Winnie Smit
(7261)
Rob Alary
(5987)
Elise Pietroniro
(2677)
Lucy Li
(8841)
Questions?