Benchmarks / Institutional confidence · Survey

GSS (2024) — Confidence in U.S. institutions battery

https://gss.norc.org/get-the-data/ →

benchmark:gss-confidence-2024

Reuse this data: CSV JSON headers match the published fixture; distributions JSON-encoded inline

Shape mix: 9 multimodal-symmetric 4 bimodal-asymmetric

Δ 1.58 3.63 () → 2.05 () within-fixture gradient

Acceptance rubric

An SSR re-run acceptably reproduces this benchmark when it clears every check below on the same 13 paired questions the source publishes. The chip badges name the checks the round-38 → round-46 shape-mismatch finding argued are necessary but not sufficient in isolation.

CI overlap 13/13 Shape match 13/13 SSR mean inside CI · shape badge reproduces the source label.

What this benchmark discloses

Recruitment screener (verbatim)

GSS uses an address-based national probability sample of U.S. adults 18+. The 2024 cross-section ran mixed-mode (in-person + web push). No content screener — every selected adult is invited regardless of attitudes. Sampling frame and selection probability are documented in the GSS 2024 Codebook R3 (NORC).

Sample weighting & demographics

Weighted to wtssps (NORC's recommended GSS 2024 post-stratification weight, person-level). Unweighted-vs-weighted differences for the CONFIDENCE battery are small but non-zero; downstream comparisons should use the weighted means below, not the raw counts.

Fieldwork dates, country, language

United States, 2024 cross-section. Fieldwork March–November 2024 per the GSS 2024 Codebook R3 (page 1). Modes: in-person and web push (push-to-web for the subsample without prior in-person contact).

Original question text & translations

Stem (codebook verbatim): "I am going to name some institutions in this country. As far as the people running these institutions are concerned, would you say you have a great deal of confidence, only some confidence, or hardly any confidence at all in them?" Items are read individually with the institution name substituted.

Likert / scale labelling

3-point scale (codebook value labels, verbatim). 1 = "a great deal". 2 = "only some". 3 = "hardly any". Linearly remapped to the SSR 1-5 scale via f(x) = 7 − 2x so that a higher number reads as more confidence (1-5 of 5.0 ≈ 'a great deal', 1.0 ≈ 'hardly any', 3.0 ≈ 'only some'). No 'don't know' / 'no answer' is included — those respondents drop from the variable's n.

FGI moderator guide & coding rules

Closed-ended Likert, no FGI. No moderator guide. Each respondent rates each institution independently in the same survey wave. The battery has run since 1973 with the same stem and the same value labels, so cross-wave comparisons are intentional by design.

Data source & license

Public domain (NSF-funded). Required citation: Davern, Michael; Bautista, Rene; Freese, Jeremy; Herd, Pamela; and Morgan, Stephen L. General Social Survey 1972-2024. NORC ed., Chicago, 2025.

Anything not disclosed here was not available in the source dataset and is recorded as such.

SSR run — reproducibility keys

template_version: 3.0.0
llm_seed: 4210
bootstrap_seed: 8420
llm_model: deepseek-v4-flash
embedding_model: nvidia/nv-embed-v1

SSR score vs ground truth, by question

Each row holds one question. The teal mark and range are SSR. The sky mark and range are the source FGI/survey.

§ How much confidence do you have in the people running banks and financial institutions in this country?

SSR —

Source 2.85 (2.79–2.90)

Source distribution SD 1.30 skew 0.03 3 cells multimodal-symmetric

1.02.03.04.05.0

§ How much confidence do you have in the people running major companies in this country?

SSR —

Source 2.81 (2.76–2.87)

Source distribution SD 1.29 skew 0.09 3 cells multimodal-symmetric

1.02.03.04.05.0

§ How much confidence do you have in the people running organized religion in this country?

SSR —

Source 2.61 (2.56–2.67)

Source distribution SD 1.40 skew 0.29 3 cells multimodal-symmetric

1.02.03.04.05.0

§ How much confidence do you have in the people running education in this country?

SSR —

Source 2.88 (2.82–2.94)

Source distribution SD 1.34 skew 0.07 3 cells multimodal-symmetric

1.02.03.04.05.0

§ How much confidence do you have in the people running the executive branch of the federal government?

SSR —

Source 2.31 (2.26–2.37)

Source distribution SD 1.32 skew 0.51 3 cells bimodal-asymmetric

1.02.03.04.05.0

§ How much confidence do you have in the people running organized labor in this country?

SSR —

Source 2.89 (2.81–2.96)

Source distribution SD 1.27 skew 0.05 3 cells multimodal-symmetric

1.02.03.04.05.0

§ How much confidence do you have in the people running the press in this country?

SSR —

Source 2.05 (2.00–2.11)

Source distribution SD 1.26 skew 0.80 3 cells bimodal-asymmetric

1.02.03.04.05.0

§ How much confidence do you have in the people running medicine in this country?

SSR —

Source 3.13 (3.07–3.19)

Source distribution SD 1.35 skew -0.08 3 cells multimodal-symmetric

1.02.03.04.05.0

§ How much confidence do you have in the people running television in this country?

SSR —

Source 2.20 (2.15–2.26)

Source distribution SD 1.27 skew 0.58 3 cells bimodal-asymmetric

1.02.03.04.05.0

§ How much confidence do you have in the people running the U.S. Supreme Court?

SSR —

Source 2.64 (2.58–2.70)

Source distribution SD 1.44 skew 0.29 3 cells multimodal-symmetric

1.02.03.04.05.0

§ How much confidence do you have in the people running the scientific community in this country?

SSR —

Source 3.49 (3.43–3.54)

Source distribution SD 1.30 skew -0.29 3 cells multimodal-symmetric

1.02.03.04.05.0

§ How much confidence do you have in the people running Congress?

SSR —

Source 2.08 (2.02–2.13)

Source distribution SD 1.20 skew 0.63 3 cells bimodal-asymmetric

1.02.03.04.05.0

§ How much confidence do you have in the people running the military in this country?

SSR —

Source 3.63 (3.58–3.69)

Source distribution SD 1.34 skew -0.48 3 cells multimodal-symmetric

1.02.03.04.05.0

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