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 National Science
Foundation Award #0550431 |
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Collaborative Research: The American Mass Public in The 1930s and 1940s |
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| Investigator(s): |
Adam Berinsky (PI)
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| Sponsor: |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA 02139 6172531000
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| Start Date/Expiration Date |
2006-07-01 to 2008-06-30 (amended 2006-01-12) |
| Awarded Amount to Date: |
$153,358 |
| Abstract: The study of individual-level public opinion and behavior has flourished in recent
decades. But understanding of the dynamics of mass opinion prior to the 1950s has
been undermined by the absence of high-quality, individual-level data. Over 450 national
opinion polls were conducted from 1935-1945. However, these surveys have not been
exploited by the social science community because they are not easily usable. The data
often contains numerous miscodings and other errors. In addition, the surveys employed
now-discredited quota sampling procedures. The principal investigators recode the
datasets and implement and disseminate methods appropriate for analyzing this historical
public opinion data. By applying methods that make quota sample data usable, this
project opens up a new realm for public opinion research in the U.S. and other
countries, such as England, that have used quota-sampling methods.
Recovering this early opinion data promises to illuminate critical questions
concerning the role of the mass public in the political system. The public opinion polls
from this time contain a plethora of valuable items measuring attitudes concerning
economic policy, World War II, and racial relations. The principal investigators use
the polling data on attitudes toward international intervention to determine how the mass
public guided and reacted to foreign policy decisions during the Second World War,
thereby expanding the systematic study of public opinion and war to include the most
significant international conflict in American history. The principal investigators also
use the opinion data on domestic policy as a resource for examining the relationship
between the mass public and both the programmatic accomplishments and limitations of
the New Deal.
Broader Impacts Resulting from the Proposed Activity
This project makes available to the social science research community a trove
of public opinion data that has largely been ignored in the past. The principal
investigators compile and produce readily usable computer files for roughly 450
opinion polls undertaken in the United States from 1935 to 1945. These files are
available through the Roper Center in Storrs, CT. However these data are almost
impossible to use in their existing condition. The principal investigators recode the
individual files, prepare documentation, and make available a series of weights to
mitigate the biases resulting from quota-control sampling. The investigators also
compile the individual polls into a series of cumulative datasets. These efforts make
the data more easily accessible to the larger social science research community.
The project also promises to expand the field of political behavior by promoting
the study of historical public opinion. It provides to the community of scholars a
wealth of individual-level opinion data in the pre-1950 era, allowing researchers to gain
new insights into an array of substantively important topics, such as changes in
Americans' racial attitudes and public support for the early American welfare state. |
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| NSF Org: |
SES - Division of Social and Economic Sciences |
| Award Number: |
0550431 |
| Award Instrument: |
Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Brian D. Humes
SES Division of Social and Economic Sciences
SBE Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences
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| NSF Program(s): |
POLITICAL SCIENCE |
| Field Application(s): |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
UNASSIGNED, 0000 |
| Program Element Code(s): |
1371 |
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