The Surveys of Consumer Attitudes and Behavior were initiated in the late 1940s by the Survey Research Center under the direction of George Katona and have been carried out quarterly through 1977 and monthly thereafter. The purpose of these surveys is to measure changes in consumer attitudes and expectations, to understand why these changes occur, and to evaluate how they relate to consumer decisions to save, borrow, or make discretionary purchases. Changes in consumers' willingness to buy are best assessed by making use of the answers to all questions asked in the surveys, especially the open-ended questions which probe underlying reasons. Nevertheless, in order to make available a summary measure of change in consumer sentiment, the Survey Research Center uses the answers to five questions to calculate an Index of Consumer Sentiment. The surveys use a national sample of dwelling units selected by area probability sampling which is representative of the adult population of the United States. For the most part, a different sample of respondents has been selected for personal interviews each quarter, and, in some surveys, respondents are re-interviewed by telephone. Interviewing is conducted on a family basis, with the respondent randomly selected from among the household head, spouse, and other family members over 18 years of age.

General reports of data from the Surveys of Consumer Attitudes and Behavior appear in Federal Reserve Bulletins for the years 1947-1959 and in the publications of the Institute for Social Research.

ICPSR data class: Class III.

Chronological coverage: December 1981. Data collected: December 1, 1981.

Personal interviews.

Survey data.

United States.

OSIRIS data format.

Machine-readable documentation. Codebook available.

Part number: 1 ; file structure: rectangular ; case count: 701 ; variable count: 387 ; LRECL: 635 ; records per case: 1.

National sample of dwelling units selected by area probability sampling.

Universe: Population of the United States aged 18 and older in households.

Economic Behavior Program Staff. Surveys of consumer finances. Annual volumes 1960 through 1970. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research.

Strumpel, B., C. Cowan, F.T. Juster, and J. Schmiedeskamp. Surveys of consumers, 1972-73: Contributions to behavioral economics. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research, 1975.

Curtin, R. "Indicators of Consumer Behavior: The University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers." Public opinion quarterly 46 (1982), 340-352.