British General Election Survey Series

collection: series

Studies

16

Variables

306

Publications

135

About this Collection

The British Election Studies (BES) at the University of Essex were initiated in 1974 to continue the series of election surveys previously conducted by David Butler and Donald Stokes at Nuffield College, Oxford (Political Change in Britain, 1963-1970). Surveys were conducted following the general elections of February 1974, October 1974, and May 1979, and following the Referendum on Britain's membership in the European Economic Community in 1975. The series has continued under the name British General Election Surveys (BGES), with surveys carried out at the time of each general election. The British General Election Survey has three general aims: (1) to collect data with a view to describing and explaining the outcome of general elections, (2) to analyze long-term changes in political attitudes and behavior from the early 1960s to the present, and (3) to organize and make available these data in a form suitable for a wide range of research. In 1992, a grant by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to the University of Strathclyde enabled the representation of Scottish electors in the sample to be boosted substantially. This "oversampling" of the Scots was undertaken to permit more detailed investigation of voting behavior in Scotland than has usually been the case with the British General Election Surveys. The 1992 surveys were carried out as part of the activities of the ESRC-funded Joint Unit for the Study of Social Trends (JUSST). The 1997 studies were carried out by JUSST's successor, CREST (Centre for Research into Elections and Social Trends), in collaboration with Pippa Norris of Harvard University and with funding from the ESRC, the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, and the Commission for Racial Equality.

For more information, visit the British Election Studies Information System website.

Studies

16 results

British General Election Panel Survey, 1986-1987

This study, a follow-up to the BRITISH ELECTION STUDY: [JUNE] 1983 (ICPSR 8409), was undertaken to describe and explain the outcome of the 1987 general election in Great Britain. The investigators sought to measure the magnitude and causes of the erosion of enduring support for the two major British political parties, the changing relationship between social stratification and electoral behavior, the pattern and sources of short-term voting change, and the division of opinion over major political issues and their relationships to the party division of the vote. Questions were posed regarding voting behavior in 1987 and general social and political attitudes. Numerous replications of measures used in the 1983 British Election Study were included.

British General Election Panel Survey, 1987-1992

This study queried respondents to the BRITISH ELECTION STUDY: CROSS-SECTION, 1987 (ICPSR 6452). The main focus was on the political and social attitudes and life experiences of the respondents, such as their political interests and party preferences, opinions on comparisons between various parties, their employment and union affiliations, and life satisfaction. Numerous questions were replications from previous British Election Studies and British Social Attitudes Surveys. This five-wave panel dataset was weighted to compensate to some extent for the effects of differential attrition. The aim was to make the various groups of the respondents at the different panel stages representative of the 1987 cross-sectional sample simply in terms of voting behavior.

British Election Study: February 1974, Cross-Section

This data collection is part of a continuing series of surveys of the British electorate, begun by David Butler and Donald Stokes at Nuffield College, Oxford, in 1963, and continued at the University of Essex. This cross-section study was designed to yield a representative sample of eligible voters in Great Britain near the time of the general election on February 28, 1974. As with other surveys in the series, electors in Northern Ireland and the Scottish Highlands and Islands were excluded from the sampling frame. Personal interviews with 2,462 members of the British electorate took place in two waves between March and May. Respondents answered questions relating to their attitudes toward the general election and the strength of their political opinions and interest. Respondents were asked about their trust in government and their opinions of the Conservative, Labour, Liberal, Scottish Nationalist, and Plaid Cymru political parties (e.g., perceived differences among them, and knowledge and perception of party position/record). Respondents were also asked to reveal their past voting behavior (e.g., their first and second choices in the general election, other parties considered, choices in the 1970 and 1966 elections, frequency of discussion about politics, and direction and strength of party identification). Respondents were then asked for their views on the general election results along a variety of dimensions. Respondents also identified groups with too much or too little political power, as well as groups with whom they themselves identified. They were asked to rate several political parties and politicians and to express their views regarding a range of social issues relating to domestic and foreign affairs, including the mass media (e.g., attention to television and newspapers and perceived bias in newspapers), opinions on prices, strikes in general, the miners' strike, pensions, the Common Market, nationalization, social services, Communists, devolution, income tax and wage controls, and Britain's dependency on other countries (i.e., the United States, Russia, France, Germany, and Australia). Respondents were also asked to predict incomes, unemployment, and Britain's future economic situation. Other sets of questions probed for opinions on social mores and life satisfaction (e.g., life in general, personal financial status, today's standards, local government, change, and getting ahead). Background information includes age, sex, marital status, employment status, socioeconomic group, experience of unemployment in household, income, occupation, degree of supervision, and responsibility in job (for self and spouse). Information on father's vote, party choice, strength of party support, occupation, employment status, and social grade is also included.
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