Southern Focus Poll, South Survey, Spring 1999

DOI

10.17605/OSF.IO/Z5P6V

Summary

Southerners tend to slip through the cracks between state surveys, which are unreliable for generalizing to the region, on the one hand, and national sample surveys, which usually contain too few Southerners to allow detailed examination, on the other. Moreover, few surveys routinely include questions specifically about the South.

To remedy this situation, the Odum Institute for Research in Social Science conducts a Southern regional survey, called the Southern Focus Poll. Respondents in both the South and non-South are asked questions about economic conditions in their communities, cultural issues (such as Southern accent and the Confederate flag), race relations, religious involvement, and characteristics of Southerners and Northerners.

All of the data sets from the Southern Focus Polls archived here are generously made available by the Odum Institute for Research in Social Science of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (OIRSS).

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

Data File

Cases: 829
Variables: 151
Weight Variable: WTVARS, TOTWT

Data Collection

February 1 to April 12, 1999

Funded By

The Odum Institute for Research in Social Science of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Collection Procedures

From five to ten student interviewers made calls each night of the survey. Each of the regular interviewers and alternates went through a training session before they began conducting telephone interviews. The training session familiarized interviewers with the purpose of the survey, its sponsor, the target population, and the specific interviewing procedures to be used for the survey.

The training also stressed familiarity and understanding of the opening script, call sheet, and questionnaire. The opening script is the model for establishing that a residential phone has been reached, explaining the purpose of the call, identifying the eligible respondent, obtaining consent and getting the eligible respondent to complete the interview. General and specific techniques to persuade reluctant respondents to cooperate were reviewed.

Once the survey began, a field manager was on duty at all times to monitor quality and handle any problems that arose. The manager compiled daily reports on each interviewer's number of completed interviews, refusals, efficiency, etc. and provided feedback as necessary.

At least eight call attempts were made to each telephone number, at least 24 hours apart. If no respondent was reached during the initial call, subsequent calls were scheduled at different times of the evening, within the specified calling times. Once callbacks were scheduled, eight attempts were made to complete the interview. Unless a day-time callback was scheduled by the eligible respondent, all interviews were done from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. in the respondent's time zone, Sunday through Thursday, from February 1 to April 12, 1999. No calls were made March 5-15.

Refusals were coded harsh, firm, or mild, and attempts were made to convert mild and firm refusals into completed interviews.

Sampling Procedures

The target population for the telephone survey was adults age 18 or older, residing in households with telephones in the United States. We oversampled the Southern states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. We also made two oversamples of African-Americans, one in the Southern states and the other in non-Southern states. During the period from February 1 through April 12, 1999, 1369 interviews were completed. Of these, 829 were general Southern, 405 general non-Southern, 26 Southern African-American oversample, and 109 non-Southern African-American oversample. In addition, when we reached non-African American respondents in either African-American oversample, we took only demographic information from the respondents. Thirty-six non-African-American respondents in the Southern African-American oversample provided us with demographic information. Seventy non- African-American respondents in the non-Southern African-American oversample provided us with demographic information.

IRSS purchased two random-digit dialing (RDD) samples from Genesys Sampling Systems, (GSS) of Fort Washington, Pennsylvania: a sample of Southern numbers, and a sample of non- Southern numbers. To give each residential telephone within each sample an approximately equal chance of being dialed, GSS first systematically stratified each sample to reflect each state's proportion of the appropriate region's population. For each state, GSS then estimated the proportion of telephone numbers beginning with each three-digit prefix in use in that state. This estimate was based on the proportion of numbers with each prefix listed in the telephone directories for the state. Strings of four random digits, confined to working banks where known, were generated by computer to complete the phone numbers. Using this method, GSS produced sets of Southern and non-Southern numbers. The numbers were screened for digitally indicated non-working numbers, which were then eliminated.

IRSS also purchased two RDD oversamples of African-Americans, one Southern, the other non-Southern. To generate the targeted RDD oversamples, Genesys converts zip-code coded data to exchange-level data that assigns a density code to each telephone household reflecting the proportion of black households for the area code exchange in which the household resides. For this Southern Focus Poll, we chose to target exchanges with at least a 35 percent density level. About 46 percent of all black households are covered by these exchanges, and Genesys estimates the probability of reaching a Black household using an RDD sample from the cumulative subset of exchanges to be about 51 percent.

IRSS staff printed the numbers onto calling sheets, which were divided into randomly selected sets of approximately 50 numbers (general Southern sample), 27 numbers (general non-Southern sample), 3 numbers (African-American oversample, Southern), and 13 numbers (African-American oversample, non-Southern). As calling proceeded, 56 general Southern, 50 general non-Southern, 65 Southern African-American oversample, and 53 non-Southern African-American oversample sets were used.

A sample number was retired when any of the following conditions were met: the number was determined to be non-working; the interview was refused or terminated; the number was of a business or government office; there was no eligible respondent at the number; or a callback could not be completed. After eight calling attempts resulting in any combination of no answer, a busy signal and/or answering machine the number was retired. Computer or fax line numbers were retired after one attempt.

The target respondent within each household was the person living in the household, age 18 or over, with the next birthday. The next-birthday method is a simple procedure used in order to reach a random respondent within each household. Also, in the two African-American oversamples, the survey was completed only by those who identified themselves as African-American or any of its equivalents in the demographic questions at the beginning of the poll. Those who did not identify themselves as African-American were asked only demographic questions, and then skipped to end of the poll. This demographic information is separated out from the data sets for the oversamples. It was collected in case researchers are interested in the characteristics of non-African-Americans living in primarily African-American locales.

Principal Investigators

The Spring 1999 Southern Focus Poll was conducted by the Odum Institute for Research in Social Science of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Combining Samples

The data sets for the general Southern sample, general non-Southern sample, Southern African-American oversample, and non-Southern African-American oversample are archived separately. If you want a general national sample, combine the data sets, and use the weight variable, TOTWT, which not only adjusts for household size, but also for the oversample of the South. Weighting the data by this variable will allow you to create a single national sample. (NOTE: TOTWT is only designed to be used to compare the general samples. It is not designed to be used with the oversamples. If you need assistance in combining the data sets see User Service.)

There are 829 (weighted sample size: 828) complete interviews in the general Southern sample, 405 (weighted sample size: 404) complete interviews in the general non-Southern sample, 26 complete interviews in the Southern African-American oversample (weighted sample size: 26) and 109 complete interviews in the non-Southern African-American oversample (weighted sample size: 108).

In addition, for non-African-Americans in the racial oversamples, only demographic information was taken. There were 36 such cases (weighted size: 36) in the Southern racial oversample, and 70 (weighted size: 70) such cases in the non-Southern oversample.

Recode Information

Additional variables have been created for the purpose of aggregating data. Note that created variables are in boldface.

The following recodes are done for each iteration of the poll (recodes unique to this version of the poll follow):

1) The variables STATCALL and COUNTY were transformed according to metropolitan and non-metropolitan characteristics. Counties within or part of a Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA) were considered metropolitan. Variable NSMETRO has the following values:

0 = Non-metropolitan
1 = Metropolitan

Note: Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) are used to identify counties.

2) The variable AGE was created using the following transformation:
In SPSS:
COMPUTE
age = 1998 - yrborn.
EXEC.
DO IF (yrborn=1891).
RECODE age (else=-9).
END IF.
EXEC.

3) The variable AGECAT was created by subtracting YRBORN from 1999 and then collapsing the resulting variable AGE into categories. The variable AGECAT has the following values:
1 = 18 to 24
2 = 24 to 44
3 = 45 to 64
4 = Over 65
5= No Answer
In SPSS:
RECODE AGE
(18 THRU 24=1) (25 THRU 44=2) (45 THRU 64=3) (65 THRU HIGHEST=4) (-9=5)
INTO AGECAT.
EXEC.

4) The variable EDUC was transformed to create the variable GRADE. The variable GRADE has the following values:
1 = Less than 9th Grade
2 = 9th to 11th Grade
3 = High School Graduate
4 = Some College
5 = College Graduate or More
6 = No Answer
In SPSS:
RECODE EDUC
(LOWEST THRU 8=1) (9 THRU 11=2) (12=3) (13=4) (14=5) (15=5) (16=6)
INTO GRADE.
EXEC.

5) The variable STATCALL was transformed to create the variable DEEPSOU. If the respondent lived in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi or South Carolina he/she was coded as 1. If the respondent did not live in these states but lived in Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas or Virginia he/she was coded as 2. Otherwise respondents were coded as 3.

1 = Deep South 2 = Peripheral South 3 = Non-South

6) The variable STATE16 was used to create the variable RESIDENT. Respondents who lived in a southern state (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas or Virginia) at the age of 16 were coded as 1. If a respondent lived in Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, West Virginia or Washington DC,he/she was coded as 2. If the respondent lived outside the south or the border states he/she was coded as 3. 1= South 2= Border 3= Non-South. Note: In previous administrations of this poll the variable STATE16 was called STATE.

7) The variable LCRECODE was created by collapsing STRLIB, MODERATE, STRCON and LIBCON. The values for LCRECODE are:
1 = Strong Liberal
2 = Not Strong Liberal
3 = Moderate Liberal
4 = Moderate
5 = Moderate Conservative
6 = Not Strong Conservative
7 = Strong Conservative
8 = No Preference
9 = Don't Know/No Answer

In SPSS:
RECODE
STRLIB (1 = 1) (2 = 2) (3 = 2) (4 = 2) INTO lcrecode .
EXECUTE .
RECODE
MODERATE (1 = 3) (2 = 4) (3 = 5) (4 = 4) (5 = 4) INTO lcrecode .
EXECUTE .
RECODE
strcon (1 = 7) (2 = 6) (3 = 6) (4 = 6) INTO lcrecode .
EXECUTE .
RECODE
libcon (4 = 8) (5 thru 7=9) INTO lcrecode .
EXECUTE .

8) The variable PIDRCODE was created by collapsing STRREP, STRDEM, INDEP, and PARTYID.
The values for PIDRCODE are:
1 = Strong Democrat
2 = Not Very Strong Democrat
3 = Independent, Closer to Democrat
4 = Independent
5 = Independent, Closer to Republican
6 = Not Very Strong Republican
7 = Strong Republican
8 = Other Party
9 = Don't Know/No Answer

In SPSS:
RECODE STRDEM (1=1) (2=2) (3=2) INTO PIDRCODE.
EXEC.
RECODE INDEP (2=3) (3= 4) (1=5) INTO PIDRCODE.
EXEC.
RECODE STRREP (2=6) (3=6) (1=7) INTO PIDRCODE.
EXEC.
RECODE PARTYID (4=8) (5=9) INTO PIDRCODE.
EXEC.

9) The variable REGSTATE was created by recoding the variable STATE. Southern states are:
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas or Virginia. The values for REGSTATE are:
1 = South
2 = Non-south

In SPSS:
RECODE state (1,4,10,11,18,19,25,34,37,41,43,44,47=1) (sysmis=sysmis) (52=-99)
(else=2) INTO regstate.
EXEC.
NOTE: REGSTATE was created for error-checking.

10) The variable SAMPLE was created by recoding the variable RESP. In the case of the racial oversamples, the respondent's race was also use to determine the value for SAMPLE. The values for SAMPLE are:

1 = South (general)
2 = Non-South (general)
3 = African-Americans in African-American oversample, South
4 = African-Americans in African-American oversample, Non-South
5 = Non-African-Americans in African-American oversample, South
6 = Non-African-Americans in African-American oversample, Non-South

In the administration of the poll, respondent numbers were assigned to each sample as follows:
SAMPLE RESPONDENT # RANGE
1 1000-4999
2 5000-6999
3 & 5 7000-7999
4 & 6 8000-8999

NOTE: SAMPLE should check against the variable REGSTATE. For SAMPLE = 1, 3 or 5, REGSTATE should be 1. For SAMPLE = 2, 4, or 6, REGSTATE should be 2.

11) The variable GALREG was created by recoding the variable STATCALL. The values for
GALREG are:
1 = South
2 = New England
3 = East Central
4 = West Central
5 = Mountain States
6 = Middle Atlantic
7 = Pacific Coast

NOTE: The states coded for these regions are the Gallup Poll regional codes.

The Southern states in the Gallup region are the same 13 states considered Southern by the Southern Focus Poll (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia).

The New England states are: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

The East Central states are: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. The West Central states are: Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

The Mountain states are: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

The Middle Atlantic states are: Delaware, District of Columbia (Washington), Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The Pacific Coast states are: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington.

12) The variable RCMIN, establishing the duration of the interview, was created by recoding the variable INTTIME. The values for RCMIN are:
1 = Less than 15 Minutes
2 = 15-19 Minutes
3 = 20-29 Minutes
4 = 30+ Minutes

In SPSS:
RECODE MINUTES (1 THRU 14=1) (15 THRU 19=2) (20 THRU 29=3) (29 THRU
HIGHEST=4)
INTO RCMIN.
EXEC.

13) The variable RACE was created by recoding the variable RACE94. The values for RACE are:
1 = White
2 = Black/African American
3 = Native American/Indian
4 = Other
5 = No Answer
In SPSS:
RECODE RACE94 (1 = 1) (2=2) (3=2) (4=2) (5=3) (6=4) (7=4) (8=5) INTO RACE.
EXECUTE.

14) Respondents who answered "American Indian/Native American" to RACE94 were not asked the follow up, "As far as you know, were any of your ancestors American Indians?" (AMERIND). So the AMERIND was adjusted in the following way: Those who answered "American Indian/Native American" to RACE94 were assigned "Yes" to AMERIND.

In SPSS:
IF (race94=5) amerindn=1.
EXEC.

15) The variable INTGEN, establishing the gender of the interviewer, was merged into the data set according to interview number. The values for INTGEN are:
1 = Male
2 = Female

16) The variable INTRACE, establishing the race of the interviewer, was merged into the data set according to interview number. The values for INTRACE are:
1 = White
2 = Black/African American
3 = Native American/Indian
4 = Other

17) The variable INTACC, establishing the accent of the interviewer, was merged into the data set according to interview number. The variable values in this administration of the poll range from 1 to 3, and represent the score assigned to each interviewer by the field directors of the poll. Each director or interviewer assigns interviewer accent scores as follows:
1 = Strong Southern Accent
2 = Detectable Southern Accent
3 = No Southern Accent

NOTE: Previous administrations of the poll used different scoring methods to create INTACC.

Previous administrations of the poll reversed the scale values; the current values are consistent with ACCENTS, the accent of the respondent.

18) An interviewer accent variable was included in this administration of the poll. The variable INTNSACC, establishing the non-Southern accent of the interviewer, was merged into the data set according to interview number. The variable values represent the score assigned to each interviewer by the field directors of the poll. The variable values range from 0 to 1. The scale endpoints are:
0 = No raters heard a non-Southern accent
1 = All judges heard a non-Southern accent

19) The variable AJCREG, establishing the new regionalization for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, was created by recoding the variable GALREG. The values for AJCREG are:
1 = South
2 = Northeast
3 = Midwest
4 = Far West

In SPSS:
RECODE GALREG (1=1) (2=2) (6=2) (3=3) (4=3) (5=4) (7=4) INTO AJCREGN.
EXEC.

20) If the respondent answered the religious affiliation question (RELAFFL) as "SOME OTHER RELIGION", the interviewer saw a screen (RELAFCHK) that asked if the respondent's answer included any words that commonly designate "Protestant" religious affiliation. If the interviewer answered "YES", RELAFFL was recoded to "Protestant."

In SPSS:
DO IF (relafchk=1).
RECODE relaffl (else=1).
END IF.
EXEC.

21) A variable that is consistent with FAITHX in past administrations of the poll was created by using responses to the following variables: RELAFFL and DENOM. The created variable is called FAITH97X in this administration of the poll, and has the same values as previous administrations of the poll.
1 = Baptist
2 = Methodist
3 = Lutheran
4 = Presbyterian
5 = Episcopalian
6 = Church Of Christ
7 = Other Protestant
8 = Catholic
9 = Jewish
10 = Other
11 = None
12 = Don't Know/No Answer

In SPSS:
IF (relaffl=1 or relaffl=6) faith97x=7.
EXEC.
IF (relaffl=3) faith97x=9.
IF (relaffl=4) faith97x=10.
IF (relaffl=7) faith97x=12.
IF (relaffl=5 or denom=51) faith97x=11.
IF (relaffl=2 or denom=15 or denom=43) faith97x=8.
IF (denom=13) faith97x=1.
IF (denom=29 or denom=36) faith97x=2.
IF (denom=34) faith97x=3.
IF (denom=40) faith97x=4.
IF (denom=11 or denom=25) faith97x=5.
IF (denom=20 or denom=46) faith97x=6.
EXEC.

22) After reconstructing FAITH97X (above), the variable FAITH97X was collapsed to create a new variable, FAITH. FAITH was created in the same way it was in past administrations of the poll. The values for FAITH are:
1= Mainline Protestant
2 = Other Protestant
3= Catholic
4= Jewish
5 = Other
6 = None
7 = Don't know/ No answer

In SPSS:
RECODE
FAITH97X (1 thru 6= 1) (7=2) (8=3) (9=4) (10=5) (11=6) (12=7) INTO faith.
EXEC.

23) Standard open-ended question information:

For question #14 (COUNTYX), "In which county do you now live?" the verbatim response was recorded and placed into the variable COUNTYX. VARIABLE NAME: COUNTYX.

For question #19 (and #20) (RELAFFL) "What is your religious affiliation-Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, some other religion, or no religion?", if the respondent's answer was not on the list of responses or the respondent chose "some other religion," the interviewer recorded the respondent's answer as "SOME OTHER RELIGION" and the interviewer was presented with a screen (RELAFCHK) with words that commonly identify Protestant affiliation. If the respondent's answer did not include any of these words, a verbatim response was recorded. VARIABLE NAME: OTHRELAF.

For question #21, (DENOM) "With what church denomination, if any, are you most closely affiliated?", if the respondent's answer was not on the list of responses the interviewer recorded the respondent's answer as 'OTHER' and the verbatim response was recorded. VARIABLE NAME: OTHDENOM.

For question #22 (DBAPTIST) "With which Baptist group is your church associated? Is it Southern Baptist Convention, the American Baptist Churches in the USA, the American Baptist Association, the National Baptist Convention USA, an independent Baptist church, or some other Baptist group?" if the respondent answered 'OTHER' he/she was given the opportunity to specify an answer. VARIABLE NAME: OTHBAPT.

For question #23 (DMETHDST) "Is that the United Methodist Church, African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Free Methodist Church, or some other Methodist group?" if the respondent answered 'OTHER' he/she was given the opportunity to specify an answer. VARIABLE NAME: OTHMETH.

For question #24 (DPRESBY) "Is that the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., the Presbyterian
Church in America, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, or some other Presbyterian group?" if the respondent answered 'OTHER' he/she was given the opportunity to specify an answer. VARIABLE NAME: OTHPRESB.

For question #25 (DLUTHRAN) "Is that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Missouri Synod, the Wisconsin Synod, or some other Lutheran group?" if the respondent answered 'OTHER' he/she was given the opportunity to specify an answer. VARIABLE NAME: OTHLUTHR.

For question #26 (DREFORMD) "Is that the Christian Reformed Church, the Reformed Church in America, or some other Reformed group?" if the respondent answered 'OTHER' he/she was given the opportunity to specify an answer. VARIABLE NAME: OTHREFOM

For question #27 (DBRETHEN) "Is that the Church of the Brethren, the Plymouth Brethren, United Brethren in Christ, or some other Brethren group?" if the respondent answered 'OTHER' he/she was given the opportunity to specify an answer. VARIABLE NAME: OTHBRETH.

For question #29 (DDISCIPL) "When you say 'Christian,' does that mean the denomination called the 'Christian Church (Disciples of Christ),' or some other Christian denomination, or do you mean to say 'I am just a Christian?'" if the respondent answered 'OTHER' he/she was given the opportunity to specify an answer. VARIABLE NAME: OTHCHRST.

For question #30 (DCHRIST) "Is that the Church of Christ or the United Church of Christ?", if the respondent answered 'OTHER' he/she was given the opportunity to specify an answer. VARIABLE NAME: OTHCHCHR.

For question #31 (DCHGOD) "Is that the Church of God of Anderson, Indiana; the Church of God of Cleveland, Tennessee; the Church of God in Christ; or some other Church of God?" if the respondent answered 'OTHER' he/she was given the opportunity to specify an answer. VARIABLE NAME: OTHCOGOD.

For question #32 (DHOLINES) "Is that the Christian and Missionary Alliance, the Church of the Nazarene, the Salvation Army, the Wesleyan Church, the Free Methodist Church, the Church of God (Anderson, IN), or some other Holiness group?" if the respondent answered 'OTHER' he/she was given the opportunity to specify an answer. VARIABLE NAME: OTHHOLI.

For question #34 (DPENTE) "What kind of church is that? What is it called exactly? Is that part of a larger church or denomination? What is that church called?" if the respondent's answer was not on the list of responses the interviewer recorded the respondent's answer as 'OTHER' and the verbatim response was recorded. VARIABLE NAME: OTHPENTE.

For question #37 (DINDEP) "Is that an independent fundamentalist church, independent charismatic church, independent Pentecostal church, independent evangelical church, or what?" if the respondent's answer was not on the list of responses the interviewer recorded the respondent's answer as 'OTHER' and the verbatim response was recorded. VARIABLE NAME: OTHINDEP.

For question #38 (RELID97S), "When it comes to your religious faith, would you say you are fundamentalist, evangelical, mainline, or theologically liberal?" if the respondent's answer was not on the list of responses the interviewer recorded the respondent's answer as 'OTHER' and the verbatim response was recorded. VARIABLE NAME: OTHRELID.

For question #39 (RELCATH), "Do you consider yourself a traditionalist Catholic, a progressive Catholic, or none of these?", if the respondent's answer was not on the list of responses the interviewer recorded the respondent's answer as "OTHER" and the verbatim response was recorded. VARIABLE NAME: OTHRCATH

For question #45 (RACE94), "What race do you consider yourself?," if the respondent answered "Other or Mixed" (RACE94 = 7) then the respondent was prompted to specify his/her race, and the verbatim answer was recorded. VARIABLE NAME: OTHRACE

County Data

The variable COUNTY matches FIPS codes for each state. However, to obtain a correct FIPS code for the county you must match the FIPS county number with each respondent's state. This is because FIPS numbers for counties are not unique, while state FIPS numbers are. Thus, the FIPS county code 001 may refer to any of fifty counties in the United States. The correct county FIPS code has been created, and the numeric variable in the dataset is ST_CNTY (ST_CNTY2 has the same variable in string format).

Open Ended Question

Open-ended question information specific to this semester:

For question #96 (MXPRTXT), "What kinds of unique problems do you think they might face?" the verbatim response was recorded and placed into the variable MXPRTXT. VARIABLE NAME: MXPRTXT.