| Abstract | |
| Survey Number | 0582 |
| Survey Title | Survey of Attitudes toward the Open Society, 2003-2004 |
| Depositor | Political Economical of Institutional Construction, Waseda University |
| Restriction of Use |
For detailed information, please refer to 'For Data Users' on the SSJDA website.
- Apply to SSJDA. SSJDA's approval is required. |
| Educational Purpose | Available for both research and instructional purposes. |
| Period of Data Use Permission | One year |
| Access to Datasets | Download |
| SSJDA Data Analysis | Not available |
| Summary |
This data comes from a national poll consisting of a total of four wave panels of voters nationwide, before and after the 43rd lower house (House of Representatives) election in 2003 and the 20th upper house (House of Councillors) election in 2004, conducted by the “Politics of intergenerational equity” group (JSS) of the Project on Intergenerational Equity, supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the “Constructing open political economic systems,” 21st Century COE Program (21COE-GLOPE) of the Graduate School of Economics at the Waseda University School of Political Science and Economics (JSS-GLOPE2003–2004) . This survey is wide-ranging in its purpose. Its first objective is to examine people’s attitudes to the pension system, paying particular attention to generational differences in attitudes. The second objective of this survey is to identify political awareness and political attitudes before and after the general election for the lower house in November 2003 and the regular election for the upper house in July 2004. The pension reform problem was addressed in earnest by the Diet from fall of 2003, and a pension system reform bill was passed during the 2005 spring ordinary session of the Diet, thus, it seems that the pension problem greatly influenced the upper house election. In addition, in this survey, question items intended to measure the strategic thinking and political knowledge of voters were introduced for the first time for a national poll conducted in Japan. The main survey items were attitude to and knowledge of the state of the pension system/intergenerational differences in social attitudes/voter support for political parties, standpoint on policy issues, and evaluation of cabinet performance in relation to elections/items for measuring the political knowledge and strategic thinking of voters/demographic matters (gender, age, education level, annual income), etc. This survey is a 1st to 4th wave panel survey, consisting of four separate questionnaires. However, all data are collected into a single document. From the 1st to the 4th wave, “a” to “d” is appended to the front of the name of each variable to differentiate them. The 1st wave and 4th wave of the survey were conducted by 21COE-GLOPE, while the 2nd and 3rd waves were conducted by JSS. Furthermore, continuously conducted national polls including this survey are as follows. Survey title: Survey of Attitudes toward the Open Society (JSS-GLOPE2003-04) Survey period: 1nd and 2nd wave: October to November 2003 3rd and 4th wave: June to July 2004 Survey title: Survey on Japanese Social and Political Attitudes in the 21st Century (GLOPE2005-07) Survey period: 1st wave: November 2005 2nd wave: February 2007 Survey title: Survey on Social Attitudes and the Upper House Election in Japan (Waseda-CASI&PAPI2007) Survey period: 1st wave: June to July 2007 2nd wave: August to September 2007 Survey title: Waseda and Yomiuri Joint-Survey on Social Expectations in Japan (Waseda-PAPI2009) Survey period: February to March 2009 Survey title: Waseda and Yomiuri Joint-Survey on Social Expectations and the General Election in Japan (Waseda-CASI&PAPI2009) Survey period: 1st wave: August 2009 2nd wave: September 2009 Survey title: Waseda and Yomiuri Joint-Survey on Social Expectations and the Upper-House Election in Japan (Waseda-CASI2010) Survey period: 1st wave: June to July 2010 2nd wave: July to August 2010 |
| Data Type | quantitative research: micro data |
| Universe | Men and women aged 20 years and older in Japan |
| Unit of Observation | Individual |
| Sample Size |
Sample size: 3,000 people Valid responses (%) 1st wave: 2,064 persons (68.8%) 2nd wave: 1,726 persons (57.5%) 3rd wave: 1,350 persons (45.0%) 4th wave: 849 persons (28.3%) |
| Date of Collection |
2003-10-23 ~ 2004-07-30 1st wave: 2003/10/23 – 11/08 2nd wave: 2003/11/13 – 11/30 3rd wave: 2004/06/24 – 07/10 4th wave: 2004/07/12 – 07/30 |
| Time Period |
2003 ~ 2004 |
| Spatial Unit | Japan Japan |
| Sampling Procedure |
Probability: Stratified
Probability: Multistage
Two-stage stratified random sampling Voter registration lists are used Number of locations：209 municipalities, 210 locations *2nd and 3rd waves were both conducted on 1st-wave respondents, and the 4th wave was conducted as mail survey on 3rd-wave respondents. |
| Mode of Data Collection |
1st wave, 2nd wave, 3rd wave: face-to-face interview 4th wave: mail survey |
| Investigator | The “Politics of intergenerational equity” group (JSS) of the Project on Intergenerational Equity, supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the “Constructing open political economic systems” 21st Century COE Program (21COE-GLOPE) of the Graduate School of Economics at the Waseda University School of Political Science and Economics, survey carried out by Central Research Services, Inc. |
| DOI | 10.34500/SSJDA.0582 |
| Sponsors (Funds) | |
| Related Publications (by the Investigator) | Please refer to the abstract in Japanese. |
| Related Publications (based on Secondary Analysis) | List of related publications (based on Secondary Analysis) |
| Documentation | [Lower house pre-election questionnaire (1st wave) ][Lower house post-election questionnaire (2nd wave) ][[Upper house pre-election questionnaire (3rd wave) ][Upper house post-election questionnaire (4th wave) ] |
| Major Survey Items |
――――――――――――――――――― [1st wave: pre-43rd lower house election 2003 survey] ――――――――――――――――――― (1) Political interest, social awareness, etc. Frequency of watching television news, frequency of reading newspapers, concerns about post-retirement life, post-retirement pension payments, interest in politics, people “justified” in using aid/reasons they are “justified,” political responsiveness (political parties, election, Diet), strategic behavior – meeting someone at the station (2) Political party usually supported, trusts, etc. in organizations/groups Sentiments toward each political party, sentiments toward independents, political party usually supported, level of support/disapproval, preferred political parties, political parties respondent rejects, level of trust in organizations/groups/government/municipal offices, support for Koizumi cabinet (3) Standpoint on policy issues, government performance evaluation, opinion of policies and economic conditions Important issues in current Japanese politics, important issues in current Japanese economy, level of satisfaction with life, level of satisfaction with politics, state of the economy, state of the economy compared to one year ago, the economy one year from now, level of satisfaction with living conditions, living conditions compared to one year ago, living conditions one year from now, political standpoint (conservative and progressive ideology), importance of each policy area, importance of specific policies (16 items), standpoint of respondent/Liberal Democratic Party/Democratic Party toward policies (Iraq problem, privatization of postal services, spouses keeping separate family names), evaluation of government performance in each field, evaluation of government performance regarding specific policies (16 items), evaluation of Koizumi cabinet (4) Trust in/state of politicians/political parties/politics Thoughts on relationship of the Japanese people and elections/politics, points respondent considers important in next House of Representatives election (local/professional/national benefits), Diet members after winning election, management of Japanese politics (benefits for large organizations or benefits for the people as a whole), management of national affairs (benefits for bureaucratic organizations or benefits for the people as a whole), whether Japanese political parties or politicians ignore people’s life, level of trust in national politics, level of trust in prefectural politics, level of trust in municipal politics, level of awareness of political party manifests and policy statements, manifests and policy statements of political party that left the strongest impression to respondent, desired administration after upcoming lower house election: single party or coalition (5) Attitude and behavior during lower house election Political party of the candidate respondent intends to vote for in upcoming single-member district election, political party respondent intends to vote for in proportional representation election, people and organizations most likely to achieve what respondent desires, organizations and groups involved in/level of participation, frequency of participation in political activities/desired involvement in the future (6) Face items Gender, birth month and year/age, years at residence, distance to “workplace,” type of housing, number of years attended schools, highest level of educational attainment, annual household income, occupation, size of employer by number of employees, official position, provider for the household, occupation of the provider for the household, size of the employer of the provider for the household by number of employees, number of close acquaintances, number of household family members, marital status ――――――――――――――――――― [2nd wave: post-43rd lower house election 2003 survey] ――――――――――――――――――― (1) In old age, generation What age respondent considers to be “in old age,” desired life in old age, income necessary for life in old age, generation contributing most to contemporary society, generation that contributed most to postwar Japanese society (2) Thoughts related to insurance premiums/taxes supporting the pension system Thoughts on increase in non-payers of national pension insurance premiums, whether younger generations paying social insurance premiums are losing money, two opinions on care of the elderly through the pension system, two opinions on welfare and other national services and how they are supported by taxes (3) Support for political parties Whether or not respondent feels he or she prefers not to support any political party/intensity of the feeling, political parties usually preferred, political parties supported, intensity of the support (4) Voting behavior in lower house election this time Whether respondent voted in the November 9 lower house election, reasons for choosing to vote, political party of the candidate voted for in single-member district election, whether respondent focused more on political parties or individual candidates in single-member district election, reasons for voting for the candidate in single-member district election, political party voted for in proportional representation election, reasons for voting for the political party in proportional representation election, whether political party of the candidate voted for in single-member district election and political party voted for in proportional representation election are the same or different, reasons for voting for different political parties in single-member district election and proportional representation election, reasons for abstaining from this lower house election (5) Level of interest in politics Level of interest in the various government policy areas, level of interest in specific policies (6) Election campaign work Whether respondent has been canvassed during the lower house election this time, people who canvassed, political parties and political parties of candidates that canvassed respondent, whether involved in canvassing during the lower house election this time, people to whom respondent canvassed, political parties that canvassed and political parties of candidates who canvassed (7) Attitude to Japanese society What best represents Japan, things to be proud of about Japan, whether respondent would fight for Japan if involved in war, whether a democracy is a good form of government, whether democracy is better than other political systems, level of satisfaction with national political leaders, level of satisfaction with state of democracy in Japan, level of interest in the behavior of politicians and political trends (8) Attitude to politics, etc. Whether government is responsible (10 items), pros and cons of eight political concepts, pros and cons of seven interpersonal relationship concepts, important national objectives for the next 10 years (9) Thoughts on the state of society, etc. Opinions on corporate bankruptcy and wage cuts, whether politicians should be governed by their own beliefs or public opinion, whether more use should be made of local referendums, whether a desirable society is one in which individuals are valued or groups are valued, whether opportunities or results should be equitable, whether conventional or new methods are better, whether politicians should work for their constituencies or be addressing national problems, fair (just) society, realities of Japanese society, which society is fair, level of fairness in today’s world, person most responsible for current economic/political crises in Japan, political knowledge, general sense of trust (10) Face items Gender, date and month of birth, age ――――――――――――――――――― [3rd wave: pre-20th upper house election 2004 survey ] ――――――――――――――――――― (1) Pension system problem Level of trust in present pension system, level of relief with the conclusion of the pension system reform bill, problem of nonpayment of Diet member pension, whether there has been sufficient debate on the pension system, knowledge of pension insurance premium payment period, knowledge of pension system operation (2) Political party support Sentiment toward each political party, sentiment toward “independents,” political party usually supported, whether enthusiastically supporting, intensity of non-supportiveness, political parties preferred, political parties rejected, support of Koizumi cabinet, knowledge of Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, political parties with favorable media reputation, political parties with poor reputations Whether there are any political parties to which the respondent feels an affinity/names of political parties, level of closeness felt, whether there are any political parties to which respondent somewhat feels an affinity/names of political parties (3) Attitude to politics, attitude to society Standards for hiring lawyers, political standpoint (conservative and progressive ideology), anything to feel proud of (Japanese democracy, postwar Japanese economy, current state of Japan), political responsiveness (political parties, election, Diet), Diet members after winning election, management of national politics (benefits for large organizations or benefits for the people as a whole), opinion--politics and government are complicated, opinion-- the effect is of opposing risky bills, management of national administration (benefits for bureaucratic organizations or benefits for the people as a whole), whether Japanese political parties or politicians ignore the life of the people, level of trust in national politics, level of trust in prefectural politics, level of trust in municipal politics, important points when choosing politicians to support, desirable society (whether achieving objectives or efforts valued), level of trust in organizations/groups/government/public offices Opinion on ways of paying incentives for inventions by internal corporate researcher groups (4) Economic conditions Level of life satisfaction, level of political satisfaction, business conditions, business conditions compared to a year ago, business conditions a year later, level of satisfaction with living conditions, living conditions compared to a year ago, living conditions a year later, changes in living conditions due to economic policies, what is responsible for Japan’s economic conditions for the past several years (5) Political interest and evaluation Extent that politicians release information, level of interest in politics Level of interest in the various government policy areas, level of interest in specific policies (17 items), standpoint of respondent/cabinet/each political party toward policies (Iraq problem, pension system reform), evaluation of government performance in each field, evaluation of government performance regarding specific policies (17 items), evaluation of Koizumi cabinet Thoughts on strengthening the authority of local governments and disparities between local governments, knowledge--ordinances (6) Upper house election behavior Intention to vote in the July 11 upper house election, political parties intending to vote for in electoral district election, political parties intending to vote for in proportional representation election (7) Public pension enrollment Whether or not respondent receives public pension payments, whether or not respondent pays public pension insurance premiums, whether or not respondent is eligible for special provisions for exemptions from pension insurance premiums, public pension systems respondent is enrolled in (8) Face items Gender, date and month of birth, age, annual household income, occupation, size of employer by number of employees, official position, provider for the household, occupations of the provider for the household, size of employer of the provider for the household by number of employees ――――――――――――――――――― [4th wave: post-20th upper house election 2004 survey] ――――――――――――――――――― (1) Face items Gender, date and month of birth, age (2) July 11 upper house election Whether voted, political party of candidates voted for in electoral district election, political party/political party of the candidate voted for in proportional representation election (3) Political parties with which respondent feels an affinity Whether there are any political parties with which respondent feels an affinity/names of political parties, level of affinity, whether there are any political parties with which respondent somewhat feels an affinity/names of political parties (4) Most memorable prime minister, events, etc. Most memorable prime minister, most memorable economic developments and eras |
| Date of Release | 2008/10/20 |
| Topics in CESSDA |
Click here for details Elections |
| Topics in SSJDA | Politics/Administration/Election Society/Culture |
| Version | 1 ： 2008-10-20 |
| Notes for Users | Variable and value labels are written in Japanese. |