Chinese Chinese General Social Survey

to Include Internet Variables as in the US

John Robinson, Ph.D.

Department of Sociology,

University of MarylandJuly 22,2002 Beijing, China

1.General Social Survey(GSS)

- Most respected scientific survey about American Public Opinion and behavior

- Document trends every 1-2 years since 1972

- Long personal in-home interview (90 minutes)

General Social Survey(GSS)

- Strong questions (Reliability / Validity )

- Very strong sample (N=1500/yr)

• Full geographical representation

• Includes non-telephone household

• High response rate (75+ %)

2.GSS Topics(1000+questions) - Openness / Tolerance

- Government Spending areas

- Confidence in Institutions

- Gender roles/ family

- Trust, Happiness, Health

- Minorities/race

- Other counties

GSS Topics --Behavior

- Socializing

- Religion/Sex

- TV, Newspaper

- Voting / Politics

- Internet questions (Internet Module, since 2000)

3.American's Use of Time Project

- Document trends, every 10 years since 1965

- Strong national sample

- Covers all behavior, especially free time