Many sociologists like to compare behaviour and attitudes over time to try to gain an insight into how our habits and views have changed. This sort of longitudinal survey work is not always easy to do, because sampling will often differ, and people’s approach to completing surveys may change. Think now about some of the problems of producing reliable and comparable survey data, if they are drawn from periods that are decades apart.
Researchers in the Policy Institute at King’s College London recently took on the task, using data from Gallup surveys included in The Gallup International Public Opinion Polls, Great Britain, 1937–1975 with a sample size of c.1,000 British adults. They compared these data on matters of education, work and the sexes with similar surveys conducted today on attitudes and behaviour on a range of subjects. The more recent data collection took place between 11 and 12 December 2024, with a total of 1,033 respondents drawn from a nationally representative group of those aged 18+. Data were weighted by age, gender, region, ethnicity and education status. So, what did they find out?
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