Detroit Area Study, 1956: Orientation on Moral Issues in a Metropolis and The Meaning of Work (ICPSR 7320)
This study of 797 adults in the Detroit metropolitan area provides information on their attitudes toward work and their motivations for working, as well as their orientation toward many social and political issues. The study was a combination of two separate studies: ORIENTATION ON MORAL ISSUES IN A METROPOLIS by Robert Angell, and THE MEANING OF WORK by Robert Kahn and Robert Weiss. Respondents were asked about the importance of work in their life, the things in their job that made them feel important, the things they wanted from their job that it did not provide, the other areas of their life that made them feel useful, and the people in their lives that influenced their choice of occupation. A number of questions that focused on women working outside the home probed respondents' feelings about how a husband was affected by a working wife, and if there were kinds of jobs that women should not have. Other questions probed respondents' views about what the United States should do in the event of an attack by the Soviet Union on a western European country, a parent not allowing a child to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school, the proposed racial integration of schools, appointment or election of government officials, effecting changes in the United States Constitution, trial by a jury or a judge, ways to effect world peace, the most important problem for the United States in the future, and a Communist revolution in a Latin American country. Additional items explored respondents' opinion of the Detroit newspapers and the Detroit newspaper strike, and their satisfaction with their neighborhood. Respondents were also asked about their political party preference, as well as their use and ownership of telephones. Demographic variables specify age, sex, race, education, place of birth, marital status, number of children, nationality, religious preferences, occupation, family income, length of residence in the Detroit area, home ownership, length of time at present residence, and class identification.
Detroit Area Study, 1960: Labor and Leisure in the Urban Community, A Study of Social Order and Social Change (ICPSR 7399)
This study of 678 adults in the Detroit metropolitan area in 1960 provides measures of their job satisfaction and use of leisure time, as well as information on their friendships, buying patterns, and political preferences. Questions on job satisfaction queried respondents about job preferences, hours worked at current job, preference for self-employment, type of supervisors at workplace, chances for promotion, and the work culture and environment at respondents' current jobs. Questions on leisure time elicit information on time spent watching television and the programs watched often, newspapers and magazines read regularly and favorite columnists, books read, time spent on other hobbies and crafts such as photography, music, and sports, vacation time, use of spare time, memberships in clubs and organizations, and time spent socializing with friends, relatives, colleagues, and neighbors. Other items probed respondents' opinions about causes of unemployment, their feelings about their standard of living, and their future plans, financial obligations, buying patterns, use and ownership of telephones, self-perceived social class, political party preference, and choice of gubernatorial and presidential candidates in the last election. Additional items probed respondents' attitudes toward Blacks as neighbors and co-workers. Demographic variables specify age, sex, race, education, place of birth, length of residence in the Detroit area, home ownership, length of time at present residence, marital status, number of children, original nationality of paternal family, income, occupation, religious preferences, and class identification.