Data Release 4 for the 2022 GSS Cross-section data, featuring a new multi-mode design, are now available. The additional data features expand survey paradata on interviewer characteristics, incentives, survey length, respondent selection, and the data collection design. We encourage users to review the documentation and consider the potential impact of the experiments and data collection approach on the survey estimates.
If you are interested in submitting new content for the 2026 GSS, the call for the 2026 GSS Module Competition is now available. The deadline is February 10th, 2025.
The General Social Survey (GSS) is one of the most influential studies in the social sciences, and is frequently referenced in the media. Visit the GSS Data Explorer Media Room for insight into the subjects covered in the GSS and access to experts who can help you analyze GSS data to answer your key questions.
GSS is a project of NORC at the University of Chicago.
Our name is NORC at the University of Chicago for all media,communications, and marketing purposes. The first reference that we recommend to reporters is: "The independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago," with subsequent references simply NORC.
If you are using information from the General Social Survey, the citation we recommend is the following: "The General Social Survey (GSS) is a project of the independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago, with principal funding from the National Science Foundation." Subsequent reference would be simply GSS.
NORC at the University of Chicago is an independent non-profit organization that has been conducting studies in the public interest for more than eighty years. NORC has been conducting the GSS for 52 years and is one of the oldest and most respected social science research organizations in the world.
NORC at the University of Chicago is giving social scientists and other researchers an easy way to fold social media conversations into their research projects with the launch of its General Social Media Archive. The Archive complements NORC’s long-running, highly influential General Social Survey (GSS).
That explains why consumers say they feel as bad as they did in the financial-crisis year of 2009, a recent Gallup poll showed. For the first time, Americans who say they are "not too happy" outnumber those who say they're "very happy," according to a survey from the nonprofit group NORC at the University of Chicago.
Twenty-four percent of Americans reported they were “not too happy” in life in 2021, up from 13% in 2018, according to the General Social Survey, a sociological survey conducted by research organization NORC at the University of Chicago. The share of those who said they were “very happy” declined to 19% from 31% over the same period.
