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Bibby, R. W. (2021, March 29). Project Canada 1985.
Summary
This survey was the third in the Project Canada adult surveys. Begun in 1975, Project Canada has generated extensive information on life in Canada, with specific attention given to social issues, intergroup relations, and religion. The project has taken representative samples of Canadians every five years, creating panel studies through which social change and stability can be monitored.
The questionnaire was constructed to provide comprehensive data pertaining to three main subject areas being investigated: social issues, intergroup relations and religion. Carried out by mail between approximately July 15 - November 15 of 1985, the survey comprised a sample of 561 people who had participated in 1975 and 1980, and 155 whose involvement had commenced with the 1980 survey. This ongoing core of 716 respondents was supplemented with 914 new participants to form a total sample of 1,630 people. Together with Project Canada 1975 and Project Canada 1980, this survey provides 1975-80-85 trend and panel data. In order to monitor change, many of the items in the 1975 and 1980` versions were included in the questionnaire, with new items added to clarify the earlier findings as well as to update the content more generally.
Follow-up procedures differed somewhat from those used in 1975 and 1980. Approximately two to three weeks after the initial mailing, the pre-paid postcard - functioning as a reminder and asking about the status of the questionnaire - was sent, followed about three weeks later by a second copy of the questionnaire, with "Second Request" stamped on its cover letter.
In early 1986, participants were sent a thank-you postcard, informing them how the results were being disseminated, and welcoming further inquiries.
Number of usable questionnaires received: 1,630 Return rate: 60%
Sampling Procedures
The effort to locate the 1,482 people who had participated in the 1980 survey began in the spring of 1985 and continued through the summer. It appears that 1,063 of the 1980 respondents were located (72%), with 716 (67%) submitting usable questionnaires. In short, 50% of the 1980 sample were part of the new sample. The majority of past participants were contacted in early July.
By late August, the social and demographic characteristics of the sample to date were examined in light of the Canadian population. A supplemental sample of 2,000 cases was then drawn, which, when combined with the 1980 core, would produce a final sample of adequate size and sufficient representativeness to permit high-accuracy generalizations to the Canadian population. As before, Canada was stratified by province and community size (Greater than 100,000, 99,999-10,000, Less than 10,000), and the overall sample drawn proportionate to the national population, with 104 communities involved. Participants were randomly selected using telephone directories. As in 1980, it was anticipated that weighting according to provincial and community size, as well as gender would be required, with age weighting required as the ongoing cores would have aged anywhere from five to ten years.
We estimated it was possible for 1,666 of the "new 1985 sample" to return the questionnaire, with 914 (55%) doing so. Because of improved preparation and anticipation of the nature of the new, supplementary sample, the data collection covered four months.
The final national sample comprised 1,630 cases - 561 from 1975, 155 from 1980, and 914 new additions. These responses from 2,729 contacts represent a combined return rate for the ongoing cores and new participants of 60%.
These 1,630 cases have been weighted for provincial and community size, along with gender and age. In order to minimize the use of large weight factors, the sample again was reduced to 1,231 cases.
So weighted, the sample is highly representative of the Canadian population. A representative sample of this size should be accurate within about four percentage points on most items, 19 times in 20 similar surveys.
Occupation Codes for the variables, SES3, SPSES3, TYPE3 and SPTYPE3
"Occupations have been coded according to the Blishen & McRoberts (1976) socio-economic index scores, as well as the 1980 Statistics Canada classification of occupations. The SES index is determined using both objective and subjective criteria and reflects both the economic return and the prestige which are associated with one's occupation. The higher the score, the higher the occupational rating (Bernard R. Blishen and Hugh A. McRoberts, "A Revised Socioeconomic Index for Occupations in Canada." The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 13:71-79, 1976.)" The detailed Statistics Canada tables for TYPE3 and SPTYPE3 are not reproduced here.
