Survey of Consumer Finances, 1968 (ICPSR 7448)
Version Date: Jul 14, 2022 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
University of Michigan. Survey Research Center. Economic Behavior Program
Series:
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07448.v3
Version V3 (see more versions)
Summary View help for Summary
The Survey of Consumer Attitudes and Behavior series (also known as the Surveys of Consumers) was undertaken to measure changes in consumer attitudes and expectations, to understand why such changes occur, and to evaluate how they relate to consumer decisions to save, borrow, or make discretionary purchases. The data regularly include the Index of Consumer Sentiment, the Index of Current Economic Conditions, and the Index of Consumer Expectations.
This data collection is one in a series of financial surveys of consumers conducted annually from 1946 to 1971. In a nationally representative sample, the head of each family unit was interviewed. Starting in 1966, in order to examine the effect that increased car ownership was having on American families, the data collected in this series were organized so that they could be analyzed by both family unit and car unit. The 1968 data are based on car unit. Survey questions regarding automobiles included number of drivers and car owners in the family, make and model of each car, purchase method, car financing and installment debt, and expectations of car purchases in the coming year. Other questions in the 1968 survey covered the respondent's attitudes toward national economic conditions (e.g., the effect of income tax, interest rates, the stock market, Vietnam War involvement, and relations with other communist countries on United States business) and price activity, as well as the respondent's own financial situation. Other questions examined the family unit head's occupation, and the nature and amount of the family's income, debts, liquid assets, changes in liquid assets, savings, investment preferences, and actual and expected purchases of major durables. In addition, the survey explored in detail the subject of housing, e.g., previous and present home ownership, value of respondent's dwelling, and mortgage information. Personal data include age and education of head, household composition, and occupation.
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Funding View help for Funding
Subject Terms View help for Subject Terms
Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
Smallest Geographic Unit View help for Smallest Geographic Unit
Primary Sampling Units (PSUs)
Distributor(s) View help for Distributor(s)
Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)
Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection
Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes
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Data on a family unit basis have a record for each family, with car information only for the first (usually the newest) car owned. Data on a car unit basis have a record for every car owned by the family. By using a global filter, data on a car unit basis can also be analyzed on a family unit basis. The frequencies in the codebook have been filtered on a family unit basis.
- Additional information on the Surveys of Consumers can be found by visiting the Surveys of Consumers Website.
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The purpose of this survey series is to forecast changes in aggregate consumer behavior.
Sample View help for Sample
The sample was made up of a national cross-section of family units.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
Persons aged 18 years or older living in households with telephones within the coterminous United States.
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)
HideOriginal Release Date View help for Original Release Date
1984-05-11
Version History View help for Version History
2022-07-14 Masked variable V14.
2020-09-09 Removed variable V14 due to disclosure issues.
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:
- University of Michigan. Survey Research Center. Economic Behavior Program. Survey of Consumer Finances, 1968. ICPSR07448-v3. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2022-07-14. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR07448.v3
Notes
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