NATIONAL SURVEY

The data sets used throughout this book are part of the Perceptions of the American People project funded by the National Science Foundation (Grant SES-0111887). The survey was administered by the Ohio State University's Center for Survey Research. Households in the forty-eight contiguous states and the District of Columbia were randomly chosen using random-digit dialing. An English-speaking respondent within the household was randomly chosen using the “last birthday” selection technique (Lavrakas 1993). Only U.S. citizens were included in the sample. A total of 1,254 interviews were completed between May 29, 2002, and July 21, 2002. The response rates were as follows: American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) Response Rate 5, 34 percent; AAPOR Cooperation Rate 3, 39 percent; and Modified AAPOR Cooperation Rate 3, 74 percent. The average length of the interviews was 31 minutes and the data are weighted to match the sample with the population based on the 2000 U.S. Census.

The survey items and scales used as independent and dependent variables in the regression analyses in Chapters 2 through 5 were standardized to range from 0 to 1, making comparisons easier. See Gary King (1986) and Robert Luskin (1991) for a discussion of how to interpret scales using this method of standardizing variables.