Metropolis and Surrounding Countryside (Regional Study Cologne/Bonn)

Regional election study and factors of one´s own voting decision. Political attitudes and evaluation of parties and politicians, viewed at both local and federal level. Topics: evaluation of the most important political events of the last year; political interest; most important tasks of the FRG and perceived possibilities of personal contribution to problem solution; degree of familiarity and frequency of use of local and national daily newspapers; personal election participation; party identification and party preference; most preferred party at place of residence; assessment of the influence of neighbors, colleagues, the family and the circle of friends on one´s own voting decision; good and bad sides of the parties; length of local residency and local ties; satisfaction with place of residence; city size and preferred size of city of residence; residential status and preferred residential status; satisfaction with housing conditions; rank order of the criteria for the assignment of social prestige in effect at place of residence, in general for the FRG and personally preferred; currently most important political tasks at place of residence and personal opportunities to contribute to problem solution; expected chances for success of personal political activity; issue ability of the parties to solve the problems at place of residence; personal impact of the territory reform (municipal reorganization); attitude to territory reform and expected advantages and disadvantages; degree of familiarity of local politicians and their achievements as well as their party affiliation; personal voting decision oriented to person or party; differences between CDU and SPD at local level and at federal level; assignment of parties to social groups and personal group affiliation; sympathy scale for SPD, CDU, CSU, FDP, NPD and DKP; memberships and intensity of participation in events; offices accepted; self-assessment of social class and assumed personal standing at place of residence as well as assessment of the social class of father (scale); judgement on the economic situation and the economic development of the FRG; satisfaction with place of work; preferred place of work; location of the job at place of residence. Demography: age; sex; marital status; religious denomination; religiousness; frequency of church attendance; school education; occupational position; employment; the route to work; number of recipients of income; household income; household size; household composition; characteristics of head of household. Interviewer rating: interest of respondent in interview; length of interview; date of interview. Also encoded were the following regional data at the level of municipal districts or parts of town: election turnout; vote distribution; population level in 1961 and 1970; resident density; proportion of men and proportion of foreigners; residential population with another residence; marital status; average size of household; religion and age structure; sources of livelihood; training level; sector of employment; occupational position; telephone density.