“The Taiwan Social Change Survey (TSCS) tracks the long-term trend of social changes through national representative survey data. Since the first nation-wide survey completed in 1985, this cross-sectional survey project has followed 5-year cycles that rotate selective modules. These modules cover various topics including family, religion, stratification, mass communication, and political participation. As of 2006, the TSCS had accumulated 37 surveys. Many of these surveys carry repetitive modules that have run through up to four cycles of survey operations, which enable researchers to understand social change from longitudinal perspectives. With more than 80,000 face-to-face interviews completed over the past 22 years, the TSCS has become the largest survey series among all of the general social surveys in the world….
“The TSCS team also initiates and participates in international comparative surveys. Since 2001, the TSCS has been an active member in both the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) and the East Asian Social Survey (EASS). In the wave of the globalization of social surveys, not only will the TSCS continue to cover its major national research agenda, but it also will aim to present and demonstrate the characteristics of Taiwanese social changes by incorporating both ISSP and EASS modules into the surveys. Such a combination of local, regional, and global research interests should preserve the tradition of the TSCS while it expands into the international community.” (Source: Methodology notes provided by Academia Sinica.) This survey is the fourth phase and fifth wave of Questionnaire 2.
- Data File
- Cases: 1,881
Variables: 306
Weight Variable: WEIGHT - Data Collection
- Date Collected: 2004
- Funded By
- National Science Council & Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica
- Collection Procedures
- Face-to-face interviews of registered non-institutional residents in Taiwan, ages 18 or over.
- Sampling Procedures
- “First, the number of target respondents was decided for each of ten strata of cities and townships proportionate to the size of their populations. Next, the number of sampled precincts (smallest administrative unit in cities) was decided for Taipei City and Kaoshiung City. The number of townships was decided for other strata and then the townships were randomly selected and two precincts or villages (smallest administrative unit in rural areas) were randomly selected in each sampled township. Finally, around 20 individuals ages 18 (or 20) or over were randomly selected from household registers in each precinct or village.” The response rate was 40 percent. (Source: Methodology notes provided by Academia Sinica.)
- Principal Investigators
- Ying-Hwa Chang, Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica
- Related Publications
- “The TSCS has been based at the Academia Sinica, jointly operated by the Institute of Sociology and the Center for Survey Research. All survey data have been archived in both institutes and are available for free and instant download from their respective websites. Through this generous policy of data release, scholars and students have been able to employ the data for their research. As of the end of 2005, TSCS data had been the basis for at least 231 conference papers, 209 journal articles, 149 book chapters, 85 master’s theses, and 24 doctoral dissertations.” (Source: Methodology notes provided by Academia Sinica.)
Report for Taiwan Social Change Survey (1985, 1994, 1999, 2004, in Chinese), Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica Contact person: Chiuling Chen
For the original questionnaire in Chinese please go to the Taiwan Social Change Survey Website: http://www.ios.sinica.edu.tw/sc/en/home2.php - Notes
- When “R.O.C. year” appears in the survey, it refers to the year according to the calendar of the Republic of China. (Taiwan has its own calendar year system. For example, the Taiwan year “84” refers to the year 1995 in the ROC calendar.)
- Weighting
- This Taiwan Social Change Survey, 2004 was weighted using an iterative proportional ranking scheme. Each observation was weighted by sex, age, urbanization and education level. Weights were then generated to match the population characteristics of Taiwan.
