GSS Documentation
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.
GSS Codebook
The 2022 GSS Cross-section codebook is available as a single file, detailing the 2022 GSS Cross-section only:
2022 GSS Cross-section Codebook
Previous single year codebooks are also available:
2021 GSS Cross-section Codebook
The 1972-2018 GSS codebook is available as a single file:
1972-2018 GSS Cross-Section Codebook
The 2016-2020 GSS Panel Codebook is available as a single file, detailing the 2016-2020 GSS Panel only:
The 2006-2014 GSS Panel Codebook is available as a single file, detailing the panels between 2006 and 2014:
GSS 1972-2018 Cross-Section Codebook Sections
Appendix A - Sampling Design and Weighting
Appendix B - Field Work and Interviewer Specifications
Appendix C - General Coding Instructions
Appendix E - Age and Cohort Distributions
Appendix F - Occupational Classification Distributions
Appendix G - Prestige Scores Distributions
Appendix H - Industrial Classifications Distributions
Appendix I - International Standard of Classification of Occupation
Appendix K - Protestant Denominations Distributions
Appendix L - Hours Worked Distributions
Appendix M - Abortion and ERA Distributions
Appendix N - Changes in Question Wording, Response Categories, and Format
Appendix P - Experimental Form
Appendix R - Crossnational and Topical Modules
Appendix S - Supplemental and Related Data
Appendix T - General Social Survey Papers
Other Documentation
Supplemental Documentation for the Cumulative Data
Technical Documentation
Call for new Modules for the 2026 GSS
Suspected Issues in the GSS (as of November 26, 2024)
Guidelines for Paid Modules (Updated for 2026 and beyond)
Call for new Modules for GSS 2022
The Replicating Core (Updated 2021)
Sortable Cross-Section and Panel Variable and Module Identification (Updated 2018)
The Replicating Core (Updated 2006)
Obtaining GSS Sensitive Data Files (Updated 2024)
How to Link the Panel Data with the Merged Data
Documentation for Panel Data
Past Documentation
Methodological Primer for GSS 2021 cross-section
Release Notes for GSS 1972-2021 (Release 3b)
Release Notes for GSS 1972-2018
Release Notes for GSS 1972-2016 (Release 1 through 4)
Release Notes for GSS 1972-2014 (Release 1 through 6)
Release Notes for GSS 1972-2012, Release 6 (June 19, 2014)
Release Notes for GSS Panel 2008-Sample Wave 2 (Sep. 2012)
Release Notes for GSS 1972-2010 Release 2 (Feb. 2012)
Release Notes for GSS 2010 Merged Release 1 (Oct. 2011)
Release Notes for the GSS Panel Wave 2 Release 1 (Apr. 2010)
Release Notes for the GSS 2008 Cross-Section and Panel Merged Data Release 2 (Dec. 2009)
GSS in the News
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.
