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- Textbooks for Research Methods and Data Analysis
- 1: Survey Analysis Workshop (SPSS)
- 1a: Statistical concepts and methods
- 1b: Teaching with Survey Data
- 1c: Developing research projects using survey data
- 1d: Workshop and presentations for ASSESS (SPSS users in Europe)
- 2: Survey Research Practice
- 2a: Survey Research Methodology, Practice and Training
- 2b: Major survey series
- 3: Subjective Social Indicators (Quality of Life)
- 4: Survey Unit, Social Science Research Council (UK)
- 5a: Polytechnic of North London (1976-1992)
- 5b: Survey Research Unit (1978-1992)
- Village life in Normandy
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- Origins of the British Crime Survey
- British Crime Survey
British Social Attitudes
[Page last updated 2 April 2020]
The British Social Attitudes survey is the leading social research survey in Britain. Since 1983, the annual surveys
conducted by the National Centre for Social Research (Natcen) have continually monitored and interpreted the British public's changing attitudes towards social, economic, political and moral issues. Its findings are reported
and interpreted in a series of annual reports.
The British Social Attitudes Information System is maintained by the Centre for Comparative European
Survey Data (CCESD) to provide non-specialist users with on-line access and analysis of a cumulative database of over 20,000 survey questions asked in British Social Attitudes surveys over the last 25 years.
Data and documentation from all surveys from 1983 are routinely deposited with the UK Data Service (UKDS) based at Essex University and can be searched on their page British Social Attitudes Survey . Files are accessible from UKDS: the list of currently available waves is on British Social Attitudes links 1983 onwards. I am currently working on tutorials using data from the 2011 wave and from the 2009 to 2014 waves in the cumulative file. Some of these are already available on page 3.2 Three (or more) variables and in 4.2.1 Income differences – Statistical significance
[NB: Information below is now somewhat dated: however the examples and exercises are still relevant if you are creating SPSS files from 80-column records]
NB: Because of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) the raw data files for the 1986 and 1989 British Social Attitudes Survey and (bsa86.txt and bsa89.txt) can no longer be downloaded from my site. Neither can the SPSS saved files bsa86.sav or bsa89.sav. BSAS files can now only be accessed via the UK Data Archive at Essex University. (See: BSAS filenames which has links to files for all waves from 1983 to 2018)
However, even without the raw data or SPSS files,, you can still follow the logic in the tutorials.
I have renamed the variables in bsa86.sav (the saved file for the 1986 wave in 2.3.0 Preliminary filedownloads) from the original mnemonic names (written in 1986 by John Curtice and Ann Mair at Strathclyde University, using a much earlier version of SPSS) to my preferred positional variable names (see:1.3.1 Conventions for naming variables in SPSS). However, the file still has the original variable labels and value labels . These are all in UPPER CASE and, given the limit respectively of 40 and 16 characters in those days, quite tortuous.
In later versions of SPSS the limits on number of characters in labels have been almost totally relaxed, so it's best to build up your own SPSS syntax and saved file(s) with mixed case labels, as in the tutorials, exercises and specimen answers. You should try the exercises yourself before looking at the latter. They are there as a crib (or as backup) not for you to copy and run, otherwise there's no point in you taking the course. See entries 2.2.1.2 to 2.2.1.5
SPSS Syntax files >> SPSS saved files
Nominal and ordinal variables
1: Reading raw data - mybsa86_1.sps >> mybsa86_1.sav
2: Adding missing values and labels- mybsa86_2.sps >> mybsa86_2.sav
Interval scale variables
1: Reading raw data - mybsa86_3.sps >> mybsa86_3.sav
2: Adding missing values and labels- mybsa86_4.sps >> mybsa86_4.sav
There are also files mybsa_5.sps and mybsa_5.sav
________________________________________________________________________
The saved file for the 1989 wave has variables renamed from the original mnemonic names to my preferred positional names (see: 1.3.1 Conventions for naming variables in SPSS). Variable labels are in Mixed Case, but the question numbers remain at the end of the labels (where you can't see them!) as per original file written by John Curtice and Ann Mair in 1989 (limit of 40 characters in those days). The value labels are also Mixed Case, but are otherwise untouched (limit of 16 characters in those days) and some variables do not yet have them. The measurement levels have not been accurately specified (SPSS defaults keep changing when reading numeric variables) and some missing values have not been declared, but it's easier to check and/or amend these when you use the file.
Again. it's best to build up your own file(s) with mixed case labels, as in the tutorials and exercises (limits on characters almost totally relaxed in later versions of SPSS). The following files repeat the 1986 exercises on the 1989 data. You should try the exercises yourself before looking at these. They are here as a crib (or as backup) not for you to copy and run, otherwise there's no point in you taking the course.
See entries
2.2.1.6 [bsa89] Homework exercises
2.2.1.7 [bsa89] Specimen answer for homework exercises
2.2.1.8 [bsa89] Supplementary exercise - combining your saved files
The British Social Attitudes survey is the leading social research survey in Britain. Since 1983, the annual surveys
conducted by the National Centre for Social Research (Natcen) have continually monitored and interpreted the British public's changing attitudes towards social, economic, political and moral issues. Its findings are reported
and interpreted in a series of annual reports.
The British Social Attitudes Information System is maintained by the Centre for Comparative European
Survey Data (CCESD) to provide non-specialist users with on-line access and analysis of a cumulative database of over 20,000 survey questions asked in British Social Attitudes surveys over the last 25 years.
Data and documentation from all surveys from 1983 are routinely deposited with the UK Data Service (UKDS) based at Essex University and can be searched on their page British Social Attitudes Survey . Files are accessible from UKDS: the list of currently available waves is on British Social Attitudes links 1983 onwards. I am currently working on tutorials using data from the 2011 wave and from the 2009 to 2014 waves in the cumulative file. Some of these are already available on page 3.2 Three (or more) variables and in 4.2.1 Income differences – Statistical significance
[NB: Information below is now somewhat dated: however the examples and exercises are still relevant if you are creating SPSS files from 80-column records]
NB: Because of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) the raw data files for the 1986 and 1989 British Social Attitudes Survey and (bsa86.txt and bsa89.txt) can no longer be downloaded from my site. Neither can the SPSS saved files bsa86.sav or bsa89.sav. BSAS files can now only be accessed via the UK Data Archive at Essex University. (See: BSAS filenames which has links to files for all waves from 1983 to 2018)
However, even without the raw data or SPSS files,, you can still follow the logic in the tutorials.
I have renamed the variables in bsa86.sav (the saved file for the 1986 wave in 2.3.0 Preliminary filedownloads) from the original mnemonic names (written in 1986 by John Curtice and Ann Mair at Strathclyde University, using a much earlier version of SPSS) to my preferred positional variable names (see:1.3.1 Conventions for naming variables in SPSS). However, the file still has the original variable labels and value labels . These are all in UPPER CASE and, given the limit respectively of 40 and 16 characters in those days, quite tortuous.
In later versions of SPSS the limits on number of characters in labels have been almost totally relaxed, so it's best to build up your own SPSS syntax and saved file(s) with mixed case labels, as in the tutorials, exercises and specimen answers. You should try the exercises yourself before looking at the latter. They are there as a crib (or as backup) not for you to copy and run, otherwise there's no point in you taking the course. See entries 2.2.1.2 to 2.2.1.5
SPSS Syntax files >> SPSS saved files
Nominal and ordinal variables
1: Reading raw data - mybsa86_1.sps >> mybsa86_1.sav
2: Adding missing values and labels- mybsa86_2.sps >> mybsa86_2.sav
Interval scale variables
1: Reading raw data - mybsa86_3.sps >> mybsa86_3.sav
2: Adding missing values and labels- mybsa86_4.sps >> mybsa86_4.sav
There are also files mybsa_5.sps and mybsa_5.sav
________________________________________________________________________
The saved file for the 1989 wave has variables renamed from the original mnemonic names to my preferred positional names (see: 1.3.1 Conventions for naming variables in SPSS). Variable labels are in Mixed Case, but the question numbers remain at the end of the labels (where you can't see them!) as per original file written by John Curtice and Ann Mair in 1989 (limit of 40 characters in those days). The value labels are also Mixed Case, but are otherwise untouched (limit of 16 characters in those days) and some variables do not yet have them. The measurement levels have not been accurately specified (SPSS defaults keep changing when reading numeric variables) and some missing values have not been declared, but it's easier to check and/or amend these when you use the file.
Again. it's best to build up your own file(s) with mixed case labels, as in the tutorials and exercises (limits on characters almost totally relaxed in later versions of SPSS). The following files repeat the 1986 exercises on the 1989 data. You should try the exercises yourself before looking at these. They are here as a crib (or as backup) not for you to copy and run, otherwise there's no point in you taking the course.
See entries
2.2.1.6 [bsa89] Homework exercises
2.2.1.7 [bsa89] Specimen answer for homework exercises
2.2.1.8 [bsa89] Supplementary exercise - combining your saved files