This survey is part of a continuing series designed to
monitor trends in a wide range of social attitudes in Great Britain.
The British Social Attitudes Survey (BSA) is similar in purpose to the
General Social Survey carried out by the National Opinion Research
Center (NORC) in the United States. The BSA questionnaire had two
parts, one administered by an interviewer and the other completed by
the respondent. As in the past, the 1984 interview questionnaire
contained a number of "core" questions covering the major topic areas
of defense, the economy, labor market participation, and the welfare
state. The 1984 self-enumerated questionnaire was devoted to a series
of questions on a range of social, economic, political, and moral
issues. Topics that received attention include: (1) media, politics,
and international affairs, (2) economic expectations and evaluations
and labor market participation, (3) social expenditure, welfare state
issues, the National Health Service, and education, and (4) social
class, religion, racial prejudice, gender issues, and public and
private morality. Additional demographic data gathered included age,
gender, education, occupation, household income, marital status,
social class, and religious and political affiliations.