VAR CF0803 LIBERAL-CONSERVATIVE 7PT SCALE

VAR CF0803    LIBERAL-CONSERVATIVE 7PT SCALE
              COLUMNS 612-612
              NUMERIC
              MD EQ 0


        (ALL YEARS EXC. 2000 TELEPHONE:)  We hear a lot of talk these days
        about liberals and conservatives.  Here is (1972,1974: I'm going to
        show you) a 7-point scale on which the political views that people
        might hold are arranged from extremely liberal to extremely
        conservative.
        Where would you place yourself on this scale, or haven't you thought
        much about this?  (7-POINT SCALE SHOWN TO R)

        (2000 TELEPHONE) When it comes to politics, do you usually think of
        yourself as extremely liberal, liberal, slightly liberal, moderate or
        middle of the road, slightly conservative, extremely conservative,
        or haven't you thought much about this?
        -------------------------------------------------------------------

        USE WEIGHT VARIABLE VCF0009/VCF0009A/VCF0009B.

        FOR YEARS 1984 AND LATER:
        A followup 'choice' question was asked of respondents who replied
        "don't know" or "haven't thought much" to this question; except
        for years 1984, 1986 and 1990 this followup 'choice' question was
        also asked of respondents who answered "moderate."  For these years,
        a final 3-category summary was constructed:  the 'choice' question
        is found in VCF0824; the final 3-category summary is VCF0849.

        2000: 801 of 1807 interviews were conducted by telephone, without
        use of respondent booklet.  This variable represents 7-point scale
        data from interviews conducted using both modes.

        2000:  In addition to the traditional 7-point scale version of this
        question, approximately half of the 2000 Study respondents (both
        modes) were instead randomly selected for administration of a series
        of branching format questions.  The latter respondents are coded 0
        missing data in this variable.

             1.  Extremely liberal
             2.  Liberal
             3.  Slightly liberal
             4.  Moderate, middle of the road
             5.  Slightly conservative
             6.  Conservative
             7.  Extremely conservative
             9.  DK; haven't thought much about it

             0.  NA; INAP, no post IW (1972); form III,IV (1972); R not
                 administered 7pt scale series (2000); question not used

        1972:  652         1974:  2305         1976:  3286
        1978:  399         1980:  267          1982:  393
        1984:  369         1986:  385          1988:  228
        1990:  406         1992:  3509         1994:  839
        1996:  960365      1998:  980399       2000:  000440


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