Election Study 1976 (Panel: Initial Investigation, May - June 1976, August - September 1976; Follow-Up Survey, October - November 1976)

Demography: age; sex; marital status; religious denomination; religiousness; school education; occupation; employment; professional career; household income; size of household; head of household; housing situation; interest in politics; party inclination; party identification. 2. Second pre-election investigation: economic situation of the Federal Republic; political interest and political participation; behavior at the polls in the Federal Parliament election 1972 and voting intent 1976; use of the terms ´right´ and ´left´; expected influence of the election result on one´s own financial situation; party preference (list procedure and rank order procedure); sympathy scale for the parties, the government, the opposition and selected politicians; coalition preference; attitude to the candidates for chancellor; parties one cannot vote for; necessity for a new party and attitude to a ´fourth party´; characterization of an ideal party; judgement on appropriately filling leading positions; placing the parties on left-right semi-scales; classification of parties and self on a left-right continuum; most important problems of the FRG; issue competence of the parties; evaluation of the election campaign; personal change in party voted for; expected winner of the Federal Parliament election 1976; evaluation of the influence of Strauss; attitude to nuclear power plants; general contentment with life; description of residential area and neighborhood.

Demography: age; sex; marital status; religious denomination; religiousness; school education; occupation; employment; household income; size of household; head of household; housing situation; interest in politics; party inclination; party identification; membership. 3. By-election investigation: behavior at the polls in the Federal Parliament elections 1972 and 1976; evaluation of the election and the parties; satisfaction with the election; party preference (rank order procedure); party identification of the neighborhood; sympathy scale for the parties and most important politicians; party one cannot vote for; necessity of a new party; judgement on appropriately filling leading political positions; evaluation of the stability of current party connections; assessment of parties and self on a right-left continuum as well as placing the parties on left-right semi-scales; evaluation of the election campaign and election campaign broadcasts on television; personal election campaign activities; coalition preference in the Saarland and in Lower Saxony; judgement on the claim to government by the CDU/CSU; preferred federal chancellor; attitude to abortion and divorce regulations; judgement on the economic situation of the Federal Republic and economic recovery; elements of a fear of the future; political interest.

Demography: age; sex; marital status; religious denomination; religiousness; head of household; party inclination; party identification; membership. Interviewer rating: with each of the three waves the following were estimated: willingness of respondent to cooperate; presence of other persons; number of contact attempts; length of interview; time of day of interview; weekday of interview and date of interview (only in the first and second wave).

Also encoded were: identification of interviewer and city code.