Beliefs About Social Stratification, 1980: [United States] (ICPSR 8702)

Principal Investigator(s): Kluegel, James R.; Smith, Eliot R.

Summary: The purpose of this study was to describe and test hypotheses about Americans' beliefs regarding inequality. The survey investigated beliefs about causes of wealth and poverty, opportunity, and inequality, plus perceptions of fairness and the necessity of income inequality. Included in the survey were questions on self-perceived social class (poor, working, middle, upper-middle, upper), beliefs about differences between social classes, attitudes toward different social classes, and beliefs ... (more info)

• One or more files in this study are not available for download due to special restrictions; consult the restrictions note to learn more. You can apply online for access to the data. Authentication is required to apply for access.

  To preserve respondent privacy, certain identifying variables are restricted from general dissemination. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete an Agreement for the Use of Confidential Data, specify the reasons for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research. Apply for access to these data through the ICPSR Restricted Data Contract Portal, which can be accessed via the study home page.

Kluegel, James R., and Eliot R. Smith. Beliefs About Social Stratification, 1980: [United States]. ICPSR08702-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2001. doi:10.3886/ICPSR08702.v1

Persistent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR08702.v1

Export Citation:

• RIS (generic format for RefWorks, EndNote, etc.)
• EndNote XML (EndNote X4.0.1 or higher)

This survey was funded by:

• National Science Foundation (NSF: SES 8016995,)
• United States Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH: MH32083)

Summary:   The purpose of this study was to describe and test hypotheses about Americans' beliefs regarding inequality. The survey investigated beliefs about causes of wealth and poverty, opportunity, and inequality, plus perceptions of fairness and the necessity of income inequality. Included in the survey were questions on self-perceived social class (poor, working, middle, upper-middle, upper), beliefs about differences between social classes, attitudes toward different social classes, and beliefs about discrimination against Blacks, other minorities, and women. The survey also collected information on political preferences, employment, marital status, educational attainment, religion, religiosity, age, sex, income, and satisfaction with life in general.

Subject Terms:   discrimination, poverty, social classes, social inequality, social stratification

Geographic Coverage:   United States

Time Period:  

• 1980

Date of Collection:  

• 1980

Universe:   Adults in the United States ages 18 and over.

Data Types:   survey data

Data Collection Notes:

Users should note that the documentation for this study is incomplete.

The variable SPIND (a numeric variable) contains embedded blanks.

Sample:   Three samples were selected: a representative sample (1,507 cases), a Black oversample (402 cases), and an affluent oversample (303 cases).

Data Source:

telephone interviews

Original ICPSR Release:  2001-02-01

Use any of the notification links to add this study to your RSS feed; you will then receive notification if the study is substantively updated.

• Citations exports are provided above.

• Export Study-level metadata (does not include variable-level metadata)

  • DDI Codebook or DDI Lifecycle

  • Dublin Core

  • MARC21 XML

  • DataCite XML

If you're looking for collection-level metadata rather than an individual metadata record, please visit our Metadata Records page.

• View Usage of this Study