Analysis of Social Trends using the General Social Survey

Damon Leach Co-Author
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
 
Logan Lewis Co-Author
PNNL
 
Sydney Schwartz Co-Author
PNNL
 
Beata Meluch Co-Author
PNNL
 
Samantha Obermiller Co-Author
PNNL
 
David Degnan Co-Author
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
 
Lisa Bramer Co-Author
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
 
Natalie Winans First Author
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
 
Damon Leach Presenting Author
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
 
Sunday, Aug 4: 2:20 PM - 2:25 PM
3612 
Contributed Speed 
Oregon Convention Center 
As times change, so do societal opinions and attitudes regarding topics as diverse as financial well-being, women's rights, and national policies. Opinions on these topics are often not random, but rather can be related to demographic characteristics such as race, age, and gender, among others. The NORC General Social Survey (GSS) has collected data about Americans' social attitudes since 1972. However, it is not always clear how best to analyze this type of data. In this analysis, we provide several different approaches to analyze the wide-ranging data found in the GSS, from time series analysis of financial well-being, sentiment analysis regarding national policies over time, and a meta-analysis of the distribution of survey questions related to women and women's rights over time. By understanding how these topics are impacted by respondents' demographic characteristics and how these opinions change over time, we can better understand what people value and prioritize and gain insight into the ways social sentiment can influence, or be influenced by, current events.

Keywords

Social Survey

Sentiment Analysis

Public Opinion

Current Events 

Main Sponsor

Section on Statistical Computing