The General Social Surveys (GSS) have been conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) annually since 1972 except for the years 1979, 1981, and 1992 (a supplement was added in 1992), and biennially beginning in 1994. The GSS is designed as part of a program of social indicator research, replicating questionnaire items and wording in order to facilitate time-trend studies. The 2010 GSS features special modules on science, environmental issues, risk behaviors, and the quality of working life. Items on religion cover denominational affiliation, church attendance, religious upbringing, personal beliefs, and religious experiences.
For more information on the General Social Survey, visit its website.
- Data File
- Cases: 2,044
Variables: 790
Weight Variable: WTSS, WTSSALL, WTSSNR - Data Collection
- Date Collected: 2010
- Funded By
- National Science Foundation
- Collection Procedures
- In-person interview (approximately 90 minutes long)
- Sampling Procedures
- NORC has introduced an innovative approach to demographic sampling frame construction and sample design for NORC's program of face-to-face surveys from 2004 onward. The important changes from previous GSS designs are: (i) the construction of a new list-assisted sampling frame for 72 percent of the population; (ii) an increase in the size of the certainty stratum (the proportion of the population covered by certainty area selections); (iii) designation of new primary sampling units (PSUs) for the certainty stratum; (iv) designation of new secondary sampling units (SSUs) for the remaining "urban" areas; and (v) designation of larger SSUs for the remaining areas.
- Principal Investigators
- Tom W. Smith
Peter V. Marsden
Michael Hout - Information on Weighting
- WTSS - This variable takes into consideration a) the sub-sampling of non-respondents, and b) the number of adults in the household. It also essentially maintains the original sample size. In years prior to 2004, a '1' is assigned to all cases so that they are effectively unweighted. To adjust for number of adults in years prior to 2004, a number-of-adults weight would need to be utilized as described above.
WTSSNR - This variable is similar to WTSS, but includes in an area non-response adjustment. Thus, this variable takes into consideration a) the sub-sampling of non-respondents, b) the number of adults in the household, and c) differential non-response across areas. It also essentially maintains the original sample size. As with WTSS, WTSSNR has a value of '1' assigned to all pre-2004 cases and as such they are effectively unweighted. The number of adults can be utilized to make this adjustment for years prior to 2004, but no area non-response adjustment is possible prior to 2004.
WTSSALL - WTSSALL takes WTSS and applies an adult weight to years before 2004. - Note 1: Occupation and Industry Codes
- The following link provides a detailed description of the occupation and industry codes utilized in 2010 GSS dataset:
Appendix F
Appendix I - Note 2: Prestige and Socioeconomic Scores
- The following link provides a detailed description of the prestige and socioeconomic index (SEI) scores utilized in the 2010 GSS dataset:
Appendix G - Note 3: Other Protestant Denominations
- Hungarian Reformed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Evangelical Congregational . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Ind. Bible, Bible, Bible Fellowship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Eckankar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 4
Church of Prophecy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
New Testament Christian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Church of God, Saint & Christ. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 7
Moravian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 8
Christian & Missionary Alliances . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 9
Advent Christian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 10
Spiritualist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Assembly of God. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 12
Free Methodist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 13
Apostolic Faith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
African Methodist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Free Will Baptist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Eden Evangelist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Holiness (Nazarene). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Baptist (Northern) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Brethren Church, Brethren. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Witness Holiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Brethren, Plymouth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
United Brethren, United Brethren in Christ . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Independent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Christian Disciples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Christ in Christian Union. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Open Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Christian Catholic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Christ Church Unity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Christ Adelphians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Christian; Central Christian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Christian Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Christian Scientist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Church of Christ, Evangelical. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Church of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Churches of God (Except in Christ and in Holiness). . . . . . . . 36
Church of God in Christ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Church of God in Christ Holiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Church of the Living God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Congregationalist, 1st Congreg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Community Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Dutch Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Disciples of Christ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Evangelical, Evangelist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Evangelical Reformed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Evangelical Free Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
First Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
First Christian Disciples of Christ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
First Reformed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
First Christian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Full Gospel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Four Square Gospel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Friends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Holy Roller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Holiness; Church of Holiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Pilgrim Holiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Jehovah's Witnesses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
LDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
LDS-Mormon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
LDS-Reorganized. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
LDS-Jesus Christ; Church of Jesus LDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Mennonite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Mormon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Nazarene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Pentecostal Assembly of God. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Pentecostal Church of God. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Pentecostal Holiness, Holiness Pentecostal . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Quaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Reformed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Reformed United Church of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Reformed Church of Christ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Religious Science. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Mind Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Salvation Army . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Seventh-day Adventist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Sanctified, Sanctification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
United Holiness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Unitarian, Universalist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
United Church of Christ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
United Church, Unity Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Wesleyan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Wesleyan Methodist-Pilgrim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Zion Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Zion Union Apostolic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Zion Union Apostolic-Reformed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Disciples of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Grace Reformed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Holiness Church of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Evangelical Covenant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Million Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Missionary Baptist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Swedish Mission. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Unity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
United Church of Christianity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Other Fundamentalist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Federated Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
American Reform. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Grace Brethren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Christ in God. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Charismatic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Pentecostal Apostolic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
House of Prayer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Latvian Lutheran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Triumph Church of God. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Apostolic Christian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Christ Cathedral of Truth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Bible Missionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Calvary Bible. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Amish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Evangelical Methodist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Worldwide Church of God. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Church Universal and Triumphant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Mennonite Brethren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Church of the First Born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Missionary Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
The Way Ministry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
United Church of Canada. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Evangelical United Brethren. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
The Church of God of Prophecy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Chapel of Faith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Polish National Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Faith Gospel Tabernacle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Christian Calvary Chapel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Camelite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Church of Daniel's Band. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Christian Tabernacle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Living Word. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
True Light Church of Christ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Macedonia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Brother of Christ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Primitive Baptist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Independent Fundamental Church of America. . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Chinese Gospel Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
New Age Spirituality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
New Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Apostolic Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Faith Christian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
People's Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
New Birth Christian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Unity School of Christianity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Assyrian Evangelist Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Don't know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 998
No answer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 999
Not applicable (not Protestant and Protestant
denomination given, and not married) . . . . . . . . . . .blank - Note 4: SCITEXT Coding
- In analyses, the first three categories are considered to be correct, and are generally collapsed into a code "1" or "scientifically correct." The last three categories are considered to be incorrect, and are collapsed into a code of "0" or "incorrect" in analyses.
1. Formulation of Theories, Test Hypotheses The top category includes some notion of theory or hypothesis. However, if the response is simply =theory or =hypothesis with no elaboration then the response is coded as a '5.'
2. Do Experiments, Control Group This does not include theory, but mentions experiment or control group. Key words for a response to be placed in this category are 'control group,' 'experiment,' or 'controlled group.'
3. Rigorous, Systematic Comparison This category understands scientific study as such things as being rigorous (repeated testing, over a long time), systematic (or orderly), unbiased, and replication. Responses mentioning the need for a 'controlled study' or 'controlled environment' will be classified here if they do not include additional information that would allow them to be categorized as a '1' or '2.'
4. Measurement This category includes the notion of something done 'in a laboratory' or focuses on quantitative methods such as surveys or polls or gathering fads without additional information to allow them to be categorized in one of the above categories. Responses simply indicating 'testing' are coded here.
5. Classification These responses focus on more vague forms of research such as 'investigate' or 'go to a library' or 'go in depth' or 'do research.'
6. Redundancies/Incorrect/Irrelevant This category includes all incorrect responses as well as redundant responses that mention 'what scientists do' or 'the scientific method.'
