The 2008 American National Election Study was conducted by the Center for Political Studies of the Institute for Social Research, at the University of Michigan. This study is part of a time-series collection of national surveys fielded continuously since 1952. The election studies are designed to present data on Americans' social backgrounds, enduring political predispositions, social and political values, perceptions and evaluations of groups and candidates, opinions on questions of public policy, and participation in political life.
The sample of the ANES 2008 Time Series Study consisted of a new cross-section of respondents that yielded 2,323 face-to-face interviews in the pre-election study; 2,102 of which later provided a face-to-face interview in the post-election study.
Study content highlights:
In addition to content on electoral participation, voting behavior, and public opinion, the 2008 ANES Time Series Study contains questions in other areas such as media exposure, cognitive style, and values and predispositions. Special-interest and topical content provided significant coverage of foreign policy, including the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq. In addition, the study carried expanded instrumentation on organizational membership, unemployment, the federal budget, modern sexism, and race and gender politics. The Post-Election interview also included Module 3 from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES).