National Study of Tolerance and Political Ideology, 1973 (ICPSR 8487)
Version Date: Sep 17, 2025 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Clyde Z. Nunn;
Harry J. Jr. Crockett;
J. Allen Williams
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR08487.v2
Version V2 (see more versions)
Summary View help for Summary
Tolerance for nonconformity within the general public and among civic leaders was investigated in this survey, providing correlates between ideology and political tolerance. Respondents were first queried for awareness of and opinions on a variety of social and political topics such as crime, taxes, left- and right-wing radical politics, women in politics, school integration, drugs, and welfare. Further questions addressed opinions on free speech, authority, and knowledge and attitudes regarding communism and fascism. Background information includes newspaper, magazine, and book readership, hours of television watched, political alignment, religious attitudes, and organizational memberships. Demographic data such as age, educational attainment, employment, and ethnic background are also provided.
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Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
Smallest Geographic Unit View help for Smallest Geographic Unit
City
Distributor(s) View help for Distributor(s)
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Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection
Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes
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Included in this update is the ICPSR-assembled codebook from the previous collection update. This document includes a methodological report for the study as well as documentation on interviewer training for the study, and as such is being released alongside the updated ICPSR codebook.
Sample View help for Sample
The coterminous United States was divided into 103 Primary Sampling Units, which were then subdivided into 600 Secondary Sampling Units. One or more sample segments were then identified within 300 Secondary Sampling Units, then assigned to interviewers. After assignment of sample segments to interviewers, those interviewers would then map the assigned locations, which would be used by a central office to select the individual households to interview. From those households, the specific interviewee in the household was determined through a selection table to be applied to a listing of the eligible respondents in the household.
Two distinct samples were used in this study: (1) a stratified probability sample of non-institutionalized persons age 18 or older, residing in the coterminous United States, and (2) a purposive sample of civic leaders in fourteen selected categories living in the United States in cities with populations from 10,000 to 50,000.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
Adult Population Sample: Non-institutionalized persons age 18 or older, residing in the coterminous United States.
Civic Leader Sample: Civic leaders in fourteen selected categories living in the United States in cities with populations from 10,000 to 50,000.
Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation
Data Source View help for Data Source
personal interviews
Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)
Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection
Response Rates View help for Response Rates
The Adult Population Sample had a response rate of 69.7%. The Civic Leader Sample had a response rate of 88.1%.
HideOriginal Release Date View help for Original Release Date
1986-06-06
Version History View help for Version History
2025-09-17 This collection has been updated to remove past setup files, include statistical data formats (i.e., SAS, SPSS, Stata, and R), and an updated ICPSR codebook.
2018-02-15 The citation of this study may have changed due to the new version control system that has been implemented. The previous citation was:
- Nunn, Clyde Z., Harry J. Jr. Crockett, and J. Allen Williams. National Study of Tolerance and Political Ideology, 1973. ICPSR08487-v2. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2025-09-17. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR08487.v2
2007-04-23 SAS, SPSS, and Stata setup files have been added to this data collection.
2006-01-18 File CB8487.ALL.PDF was removed from any previous datasets and flagged as a study-level file, so that it will accompany all downloads.
Notes
These data are freely available to data users at ICPSR member institutions. The curation and dissemination of this study are provided by the institutional members of ICPSR. How do I access ICPSR data if I am not at a member institution?