| Abstract | |
| Survey Number | 0247 |
| Survey Title | Public Opinion Poll on Japanese People's View of Democracy and Social Capital, 2000 |
| Depositor | Japanese Election and Democracy Study |
| Restriction of Use |
For detailed information, please refer to 'For Data Users' at SSJDA website.
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| Educational Purpose | Available for both research and instructional purposes. |
| Period of Data Use Permission | Usage period is unlimited for research purposes. Usage period is one year for educational purposes. |
| Access to Datasets | Download |
| SSJDA Data Analysis | Not available |
| Summary | The Committee for Japanese Election and Democracy Study investigates political attitude and electoral behavior in order to understand Japanese democracy. The JEDS group first conducted its survey in 1996, which is also available from the SSJDA. As a part of the research group's on-going efforts, JEDS 2000 study was conducted with the probability sample of 2,500 eligible voters in Japan. The main purpose of this survey is to understand the politically relevant aspect of social interaction among ordinary Japanese people by examining the diffusion of particular opinions between intimates such as spouse, close friends, and coworkers. For that purpose, the questions regarding how respondents feel and think about politics and society are asked in the first wave (April 2000). Employing the special technique called "snowball-sampling," those "discussants" who are mentioned by the initial survey respondents are also interviewed via mail questionnaires. By exploiting the information from the two interviews, one obtained from those in the probability sample and another from the discussants, it is possible to investigate the agreement and differences of opinions between individuals. The mail questionnaires for the second wave were sent out to those in the initial probability sample in October 2000 to ask their evaluation of government, the exposure to the mass media, and the other information sources during the election campaigns for the 42nd General Election in June 2000. |
| Data Type | quantitative research quantitative research: micro data |
| Universe | Eligible voters; female and male citizens of voting age (20 years old or above) in Japan |
| Unit of Observation | Individual |
| Sample Size | Planned sample size: 2,500. Responses: 1,618 (64.7%) for the first wave and 635 (39.2%) for the second wave. Discussant sample: 493 (30.5%) for spouses, 173 (10.7%) for the first friends, and 128 (7.9%) for the second friends. |
| Date of Collection |
2000-04 ~ 2000-11 The first wave: April - May, 2000. "Snowball" interview - April - May 2000. The second wave: October - November, 2000. |
| Time Period |
2000 ~ 2000 |
| Spatial Unit | Japan All over Japan (142 primary sampling units from the urban area; 38 primary sampling units from the rural area) |
| Sampling Procedure | Probability: Stratified Probability: Multistage The main survey: stratified two-stage random sampling design The discussant survey: "snowball sampling" |
| Mode of Data Collection | Face-to-face interview Self-administered questionnaire: Paper Face-to-face interviews to the main respondents for the first wave. Mail interviews for the second wave. For the discussant, the initial respondents in the first wave survey were requested to forward mail questionnaires with stamped envelopes to their spouses, the most frequent conversation partner, and the second-most frequent conversation partner. |
| Investigator | Committee for Japanese Election and Democracy Study (Ichiro Miyake, Aiji Tanaka, Ken'ichi Ikeda, Yoshitaka Nishizawa, Hiroshi Hirano). Actual interviews were conducted by Central Research Services, Inc (Chuo-Chosa Sha). |
| DOI | 10.34500/SSJDA.0247 |
| Sponsors (Funds) | Ministry of Education Scientific Study Funds |
| Related Publications (by the Investigator) | No publication in the form of report |
| Related Publications (based on Secondary Analysis) | List of related publications (based on Secondary Analysis) |
| Documentation | [Mensetsu Chosa-hyo][Yuso Chosa-hyo(Haigusha)][Yuso Chosa-hyo(yujin1)][Yuso Chosa-hyo(yujin2)][Dai2ha Chosa-hyo] |
| Major Survey Items |
There are three questionnaires for the JEDS 2000 survey: the first wave face-to-face interview questionnaire; the snowball discussant mail interview questionnaire; and the second wave mail intervew questionnaire. The first wave [attitude and behavior] The average hours spent for watching TV; exposure to TV news or newspapers; use of internet; primary sources of political information; TV programs that R regularly watches; trust in social and political institutions; attitudes toward people and social relationships; prides in Japanese democracy; political interest; views regarding how politics is run; political efficacy; evaluation of the Obuchi Cabinet; R's perception regarding how the general public evaluates the Obuchi Cabinet; important political issues; evaluation about how politicians deal with important political issues; affiliation with groups and organizations; participation in group activities; social interactions among group members (atmosphere, relationships with other group members; trust in the other group members; benefits R's obtain from affiliation; hierarchy among group members; interaction with the other groups; R's feeling toward organization; conversation on politics among group members; political orientations of group members); groups or organizations that R is unwilling to be affiliated; feeling when Japanese people in general are criticized; complaints about problems in neighborhood, city, or prefecture and suggested solutions for those problems; political participation in the past; receiving requests from friends and acquaintances regarding political activities; political participation in the future; R's view regarding social fairness; R's view on democracy and liberty; R's view on equality; feeling thermometer for political parties and non-partisan groups; party support (party identification); ideology; opinion about long-term care insurance; if R considers voting as a part of civic duty; R's knowledge on electoral system and coalition cabinet; and R's experiences in high and junior high school. [Demographics] Sex; age; length of residence; time spent in commuting; house ownership; education; household income; R's occupation; workplace size; R's position in organization; main income earner's occupation, his/her workplace size; the number of new-year cards R sent out; the number of friends in various social settings; R's view on relationship between friends and that between parents and children; the number of people in household; and marital status. [Social network] Questions about R's spouse (the most frequent conversation partner among family members in case R is single): sex; age; knowledge on politics, party support, evaluation of the Obuchi Cabinet; opinion about long-term care insurance policy; conversations on politics with spouse; whether R is asked by spouse to vote for a particular party or candidate; the number of spouse's friends; whether spouse usually asks advice or receives requests for advice; R's feeling when someone blames R's spouse; and the similarity of thought and behavior between R and spouse. Questions about the most frequent and the second most frequent conversation partners (discussants/D) other than spouse: R's relationship with discussants; sex; age; knowledge on politics, party support, evaluation of the Obuchi Cabinet; opinion about long-term care insurance policy; conversations on politics with discussants; whether R is asked by discussants to vote for a particular party or candidate; the number of discussants' friends; whether discussants usually ask advice or receive requests for advice; R's feeling when someone blames discussants; and the similarity of thought and behavior between R and discussants. The discussants' (D) interview [attitude and behavior] Primary sources of political information; TV programs that D regularly watches; trust in social and political institutions; attitudes toward people and social relationships; prides in Japanese democracy; political interest; evaluation of the Obuchi Cabinet; important political issues; affiliation with groups and organizations; participation in group activities; political participation in the past and in the future; D's view regarding social fairness; D's view on democracy and liberty; D's view on equality; party support (party identification); ideology; if D considers voting as a part of civic duty; and D's experiences in high and junior high school. [Social network] The number of new-year cards D sent out; D's view on relationship between friends and that between parents and children; questions about the initial respondents (R) who forwarded questionnaires to D: D's perception about R's political interest; political knowledge; party support (party identification); evaluation of the Obuchi Cabinet; opinion about long-term care insurance policy; conversations on politics with R; whether D is asked by R to vote for a particular party or candidate; whether R usually asks advice or receives requests for advice; D's feeling when someone blames R; and the similarity of thought and behavior between D and R; whether relationship between D and R is horizontal or hierarchical. [Demographics] D's sex; age; education; and occupation. The second wave [attitude and behavior] R's view on politicians; political efficacy; trust in institutions; conversations on politics; topics of conversations; evaluation of the Mori Cabinet; R's perception regarding how the general public evaluates the Mori Cabinet; satisfaction with living condition; satisfaction with politics; voting turnout; voting choice for PR district; voting choice for electoral district; campaign contacts (where do contacts come from? For which party?); campaign activity; whether received requests for campaign activities; social relationships; R's views on supporters of particular political parties; R's views on welfare policies and long-term care; priority on private or public life; R's view on representation; desirable method of dealing with social conflict; R's view on leadership in workplace; group conformity and obedience to authority; attitude toward people and social relationships; party support (party identification); image about "Japanese politics" (free answer); willingness to be involved in politics (closed format) and its reason (free answer); volunteer activity, and its content. [Demographics] Sex and age. |
| Date of Release | 2002/02/05 |
| Topics in CESSDA |
Click here for details Government, political systems and organisations Political behaviour and attitudes Social behaviour and attitudes |
| Topics in SSJDA | Politics/Administration/Election Society/Culture |
| Version | 1 ： 2002-02-05 1.1 ： 2006-10-19 |
| Notes for Users | Data sets are prepared in English. |