Religion and Politics Survey, September 2014

DOI

10.17605/OSF.IO/WABQE

Summary

The September 2014 Religion Survey, sponsored by the Pew Research Center, obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 2,002 adults living in the United States. Interviews were conducted via landline (nLL=801) and cell phone (nC=1,201; including 682 without a landline phone). The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. The interviews were administered in English and Spanish by Princeton Data Source from Sept. 2-9, 2014. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The survey focused on Americans' views of Barack Obama, as well as how the Democratic and Republican parties have handled different issues. Measures included views on same-sex marriage, terrorism, abortion, healthcare and other policies, as well as several measures of respondents' religious and political preferences and behavior.

The ARDA has added four additional variables to the original data set to enhance the users' experience on our site.

Data File

Cases: 2002
Variables: 133
Weight Variable: LVS48WEIGHT, UNLVS48WEIGHT, WT1, LLWEIGHT, CELLWEIGHT, WEIGHT

Data Collection

September 2-9, 2014

Original Survey (Instrument)

September 2014 Religion & Politics Survey

Funded By

Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Collection Procedures

IInterviews were conducted from Sept, 2-9, 2014. As many as seven attempts were made to contact every sampled telephone number. Sample was released for interviewing in replicates, which are representative subsamples of the larger sample. Using replicates to control the release of sample ensures that complete call procedures are followed for the entire sample. Calls were staggered over times of day and days of the week to maximize the chance of making contact with potential respondents. Interviewing was spread as evenly as possible across the days in field. When necessary, each telephone number was called at least one time during the day in an attempt to complete an interview. For the landline sample, interviewers asked to speak with the youngest adult male or female currently at home based on a random rotation. If no male/female was available, interviewers asked to speak with the youngest adult of the other gender. This systematic respondent selection technique has been shown to produce samples that closely mirror the population in terms of age and gender when combined with cell interviewing. For the cellular sample, interviews were conducted with the person who answered the phone. Interviewers verified that the person was an adult and in a safe place before administering the survey. Cellular respondents were offered a post-paid cash reimbursement for their participation.

Sampling Procedures

A combination of landline and cellular random digit dial (RDD) samples was used to represent all adults in the United States who have access to either a landline or cellular telephone. Both samples were provided by Survey Sampling International, LLC (SSI) according to PSRAI specifications. Numbers for the landline sample were drawn with equal probabilities from active blocks (area code + exchange + two-digit block number) that contained one or more residential directory listings. The cellular sample was not list-assisted, but was drawn through a systematic sampling from dedicated wireless 100-blocks and shared service 100-blocks with no directory-listed landline numbers.

Principal Investigators

Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Weighting and Analysis

The first stage of weighting corrected for different probabilities of selection associated with the number of adults in each household and each respondent's telephone usage patterns. This weighting also adjusts for the overlapping landline and cell sample frames and the relative sizes of each frame and each sample. The second stage of weighting balances sample demographics to population parameters. The sample is balanced to match national population parameters for sex, age, education, race, Hispanic origin, region (U.S. Census definitions), population density and telephone usage. The Hispanic origin was split out based on nativity; U.S born and non-U.S. born. The white, non-Hispanic subgroup also was balanced on age, education and region. The basic weighting parameters came from the US Census Bureau's 2012 American Community Survey data. The population density parameter was derived from Census 2010 data. The telephone usage parameter came from an analysis of the July-December 2013 National Health Interview Survey.

Weighting was accomplished using Sample Balancing, a special iterative sample weighting program that simultaneously balances the distributions of all variables using a statistical technique called the Deming Algorithm. Weights were trimmed to prevent individual interviews from having too much influence on the final results. The use of these weights in statistical analysis ensures that the demographic characteristics of the sample closely approximate the demographic characteristics of the national population