{
    "slug": "gss-confidence-2024",
    "source_label": "GSS (2024) — Confidence in U.S. institutions battery",
    "source_url": "https:\/\/gss.norc.org\/get-the-data\/",
    "license": "Public domain (NSF-funded, NORC at the University of Chicago)",
    "fielded_at": "2024-06-01",
    "methodology": "survey",
    "n_respondents": 3309,
    "disclosure": {
        "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.",
        "weights": "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.",
        "screener": "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).",
        "fieldwork": "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).",
        "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.",
        "likert_labels": "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.",
        "question_text": "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."
    },
    "questions": [
        {
            "question_template_slot": "gss2024_conf_banks",
            "prompt_text": "How much confidence do you have in the people running banks and financial institutions in this country?",
            "ground_truth_mean": 2.848,
            "ground_truth_ci_lower": 2.794,
            "ground_truth_ci_upper": 2.902,
            "ground_truth_sd": 1.299,
            "ground_truth_skewness": 0.025,
            "ground_truth_shape": "multimodal-symmetric",
            "ground_truth_distribution": {
                "2_only_some_pct": 57,
                "1_great_deal_pct": 17,
                "3_hardly_any_pct": 26
            },
            "n_respondents": 2164,
            "weighting_notes": "Weighted to wtssps (NORC GSS 2024 post-stratification). Raw 3-pt weighted mean 2.076 (lower = more confidence). 3-pt → 1-5 mapped linearly via 7 − 2x. Distribution shown as weighted percentages, 1 decimal."
        },
        {
            "question_template_slot": "gss2024_conf_majorcos",
            "prompt_text": "How much confidence do you have in the people running major companies in this country?",
            "ground_truth_mean": 2.813,
            "ground_truth_ci_lower": 2.76,
            "ground_truth_ci_upper": 2.865,
            "ground_truth_sd": 1.286,
            "ground_truth_skewness": 0.086,
            "ground_truth_shape": "multimodal-symmetric",
            "ground_truth_distribution": {
                "2_only_some_pct": 57.8,
                "1_great_deal_pct": 16.4,
                "3_hardly_any_pct": 25.8
            },
            "n_respondents": 2139,
            "weighting_notes": "Weighted to wtssps. Raw 3-pt weighted mean 2.094. Distribution as weighted percentages."
        },
        {
            "question_template_slot": "gss2024_conf_religion",
            "prompt_text": "How much confidence do you have in the people running organized religion in this country?",
            "ground_truth_mean": 2.613,
            "ground_truth_ci_lower": 2.555,
            "ground_truth_ci_upper": 2.671,
            "ground_truth_sd": 1.397,
            "ground_truth_skewness": 0.286,
            "ground_truth_shape": "multimodal-symmetric",
            "ground_truth_distribution": {
                "2_only_some_pct": 47.5,
                "1_great_deal_pct": 16.6,
                "3_hardly_any_pct": 35.9
            },
            "n_respondents": 2122,
            "weighting_notes": "Weighted to wtssps. Raw 3-pt weighted mean 2.193. Distribution as weighted percentages."
        },
        {
            "question_template_slot": "gss2024_conf_education",
            "prompt_text": "How much confidence do you have in the people running education in this country?",
            "ground_truth_mean": 2.88,
            "ground_truth_ci_lower": 2.823,
            "ground_truth_ci_upper": 2.937,
            "ground_truth_sd": 1.337,
            "ground_truth_skewness": 0.069,
            "ground_truth_shape": "multimodal-symmetric",
            "ground_truth_distribution": {
                "2_only_some_pct": 54.9,
                "1_great_deal_pct": 19.5,
                "3_hardly_any_pct": 25.5
            },
            "n_respondents": 2164,
            "weighting_notes": "Weighted to wtssps. Raw 3-pt weighted mean 2.060. Distribution as weighted percentages."
        },
        {
            "question_template_slot": "gss2024_conf_executive",
            "prompt_text": "How much confidence do you have in the people running the executive branch of the federal government?",
            "ground_truth_mean": 2.314,
            "ground_truth_ci_lower": 2.256,
            "ground_truth_ci_upper": 2.372,
            "ground_truth_sd": 1.319,
            "ground_truth_skewness": 0.508,
            "ground_truth_shape": "bimodal-asymmetric",
            "ground_truth_distribution": {
                "2_only_some_pct": 44.8,
                "1_great_deal_pct": 10.5,
                "3_hardly_any_pct": 44.7
            },
            "n_respondents": 2145,
            "weighting_notes": "Weighted to wtssps. Raw 3-pt weighted mean 2.343. Distribution as weighted percentages."
        },
        {
            "question_template_slot": "gss2024_conf_labor",
            "prompt_text": "How much confidence do you have in the people running organized labor in this country?",
            "ground_truth_mean": 2.885,
            "ground_truth_ci_lower": 2.809,
            "ground_truth_ci_upper": 2.962,
            "ground_truth_sd": 1.272,
            "ground_truth_skewness": 0.047,
            "ground_truth_shape": "multimodal-symmetric",
            "ground_truth_distribution": {
                "2_only_some_pct": 59.2,
                "1_great_deal_pct": 17.5,
                "3_hardly_any_pct": 23.3
            },
            "n_respondents": 1060,
            "weighting_notes": "Weighted to wtssps. Raw 3-pt weighted mean 2.057. SMALLER n (1,060 vs ~2,150 for other items) — GSS rotates conlabor onto a smaller ballot share."
        },
        {
            "question_template_slot": "gss2024_conf_press",
            "prompt_text": "How much confidence do you have in the people running the press in this country?",
            "ground_truth_mean": 2.051,
            "ground_truth_ci_lower": 1.998,
            "ground_truth_ci_upper": 2.105,
            "ground_truth_sd": 1.264,
            "ground_truth_skewness": 0.795,
            "ground_truth_shape": "bimodal-asymmetric",
            "ground_truth_distribution": {
                "2_only_some_pct": 37.5,
                "1_great_deal_pct": 7.5,
                "3_hardly_any_pct": 55
            },
            "n_respondents": 2142,
            "weighting_notes": "Weighted to wtssps. Raw 3-pt weighted mean 2.474. Distribution as weighted percentages."
        },
        {
            "question_template_slot": "gss2024_conf_medicine",
            "prompt_text": "How much confidence do you have in the people running medicine in this country?",
            "ground_truth_mean": 3.131,
            "ground_truth_ci_lower": 3.074,
            "ground_truth_ci_upper": 3.188,
            "ground_truth_sd": 1.352,
            "ground_truth_skewness": -0.081,
            "ground_truth_shape": "multimodal-symmetric",
            "ground_truth_distribution": {
                "2_only_some_pct": 53.9,
                "1_great_deal_pct": 26.3,
                "3_hardly_any_pct": 19.8
            },
            "n_respondents": 2159,
            "weighting_notes": "Weighted to wtssps. Raw 3-pt weighted mean 1.935. Distribution as weighted percentages."
        },
        {
            "question_template_slot": "gss2024_conf_tv",
            "prompt_text": "How much confidence do you have in the people running television in this country?",
            "ground_truth_mean": 2.201,
            "ground_truth_ci_lower": 2.147,
            "ground_truth_ci_upper": 2.255,
            "ground_truth_sd": 1.271,
            "ground_truth_skewness": 0.579,
            "ground_truth_shape": "bimodal-asymmetric",
            "ground_truth_distribution": {
                "2_only_some_pct": 43.7,
                "1_great_deal_pct": 8.2,
                "3_hardly_any_pct": 48.1
            },
            "n_respondents": 2154,
            "weighting_notes": "Weighted to wtssps. Raw 3-pt weighted mean 2.400. Distribution as weighted percentages."
        },
        {
            "question_template_slot": "gss2024_conf_court",
            "prompt_text": "How much confidence do you have in the people running the U.S. Supreme Court?",
            "ground_truth_mean": 2.638,
            "ground_truth_ci_lower": 2.577,
            "ground_truth_ci_upper": 2.699,
            "ground_truth_sd": 1.442,
            "ground_truth_skewness": 0.286,
            "ground_truth_shape": "multimodal-symmetric",
            "ground_truth_distribution": {
                "2_only_some_pct": 44.8,
                "1_great_deal_pct": 18.6,
                "3_hardly_any_pct": 36.7
            },
            "n_respondents": 2145,
            "weighting_notes": "Weighted to wtssps. Raw 3-pt weighted mean 2.181. Distribution as weighted percentages."
        },
        {
            "question_template_slot": "gss2024_conf_science",
            "prompt_text": "How much confidence do you have in the people running the scientific community in this country?",
            "ground_truth_mean": 3.486,
            "ground_truth_ci_lower": 3.431,
            "ground_truth_ci_upper": 3.542,
            "ground_truth_sd": 1.302,
            "ground_truth_skewness": -0.291,
            "ground_truth_shape": "multimodal-symmetric",
            "ground_truth_distribution": {
                "2_only_some_pct": 51.7,
                "1_great_deal_pct": 36.3,
                "3_hardly_any_pct": 12
            },
            "n_respondents": 2121,
            "weighting_notes": "Weighted to wtssps. Raw 3-pt weighted mean 1.757. Distribution as weighted percentages."
        },
        {
            "question_template_slot": "gss2024_conf_congress",
            "prompt_text": "How much confidence do you have in the people running Congress?",
            "ground_truth_mean": 2.075,
            "ground_truth_ci_lower": 2.024,
            "ground_truth_ci_upper": 2.126,
            "ground_truth_sd": 1.201,
            "ground_truth_skewness": 0.631,
            "ground_truth_shape": "bimodal-asymmetric",
            "ground_truth_distribution": {
                "2_only_some_pct": 42.5,
                "1_great_deal_pct": 5.6,
                "3_hardly_any_pct": 51.9
            },
            "n_respondents": 2148,
            "weighting_notes": "Weighted to wtssps. Raw 3-pt weighted mean 2.463. Distribution as weighted percentages."
        },
        {
            "question_template_slot": "gss2024_conf_military",
            "prompt_text": "How much confidence do you have in the people running the military in this country?",
            "ground_truth_mean": 3.634,
            "ground_truth_ci_lower": 3.577,
            "ground_truth_ci_upper": 3.69,
            "ground_truth_sd": 1.342,
            "ground_truth_skewness": -0.476,
            "ground_truth_shape": "multimodal-symmetric",
            "ground_truth_distribution": {
                "2_only_some_pct": 45,
                "1_great_deal_pct": 43.3,
                "3_hardly_any_pct": 11.7
            },
            "n_respondents": 2155,
            "weighting_notes": "Weighted to wtssps. Raw 3-pt weighted mean 1.683. Distribution as weighted percentages."
        }
    ]
}