Swedish election study 1976

Individuals born 1896-1958, residing in Sweden and eligible to vote in the parliamentary election 1976

The sample is drawn from Statistic Sweden´s register over the total population (RTB), by means of the standard program for random samples. Respondents not included in the target population because of ineligibility to vote are excluded from the sample. The target population even includes Swedes resident abroad, but these are not included in the sample. People above 80 years of age at the time of the study are excluded in order to avoid the difficulties encountered in interviewing very old people. A rolling two-stage panel, in which half of the sample was interviewed in the earlier election study and the other half will be interviewed in the next, makes it possible to study individual changes. A supplementary sample of first-time voters, who have become entitled to vote since the last election, is also drawn. The total sample is split into two subsamples of equal size. One subsample is contacted for personal interviews during the fieldwork stage preceding the election. Respondents in this subsample are contacted again after election day through a short mail questionnaire. The second subsample is contacted for personal interview during the weeks immediately after the election.