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General Social Survey - Social Identity (SI)
The two primary objectives of the General Social Survey (GSS) are: to gather data on social trends in order to monitor changes in the living conditions and well-being of Canadians over time; and to provide information on specific social policy issues of current or emerging interest. A specific topic is usually repeated every five years.
The main objective of the GSS on Social Identity (SI) is to provide an overall picture of Canadians' identification, attachment, belonging and pride in their social and cultural environment.
Detailed information for 2013 (Cycle 27)
Data release – Data will be available in the future.
Description
The main objective of the GSS on Social Identity (SI) is to provide an overall picture of Canadians' identification, attachment, belonging and pride in their social and cultural environment.
The key components of the survey include the following topics:
- Social networks, civic participation and engagement, knowledge of Canadian history, appreciation of national symbols, shared values, confidence in institutions and trust in people.
These data will be used to analyse the relationship between identity and social integration.
In addition, the GSS on Social Identity is a multi-mode survey. Respondents selected for the SI questionnaire will be given two options for responding: completing the electronic questionnaire (EQ) or continuing the computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI).
Subjects
- Social networks and civic participation
- Society and community
Data sources and methodology
Target population
The target population is all non-institutionalized persons 15 years of age or older, living in the ten provinces of Canada.
In the GSS, all respondents are contacted and interviewed by telephone. Thus persons in households without telephones cannot be interviewed. However, persons living in such households represent less than 2% of the target population.
Instrument design
The questionnaire was designed based on research and extensive consultations with data users, qualitative testing (one-on-one interviews), a pilot survey as well as interviewer debriefings.
The pilot test of the data collection methodology and questionnaire was conducted from October to December, 2012. A sample of approximately 3,800 households (equally distributed across all ten provinces) was used for the pilot over a two-month collection period. The sample was representative of all households in Canada.
All comments and feedback were fully documented, analyzed and implemented into the survey when possible.
Sampling
This is a sample survey with a cross-sectional design.
25,000 respondents will complete an interview (either by telephone or online) for the main survey from all telephone numbers selected. This sample is representative of all households in Canada.
In order to carry out sampling, the ten provinces of the target population are divided into strata, i.e. geographic areas.
Many of the Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) are each considered separate strata. This is the case for St. John's, Halifax, Saint John, Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. CMAs not on this list are located in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia. Three more strata are formed by grouping together the remaining CMAs in each of these three provinces. Finally, the non-CMA areas of each of the ten provinces form ten more strata. This results in 27 strata in all.
This survey uses Statistics Canada's new telephone sampling frame. The frame contains landline and cellular telephone numbers from the Census and various administrative sources provided to Statistics Canada. A sub-sample of unlisted telephone numbers as well as addresses and names from Statistics Canada's new dwelling frame are also included. This sampling frame is used to obtain a better coverage of households with a telephone number.
Data sources
Data collection for this reference period: 2013-06-03 – 2013-12-08
Responding to this survey is voluntary.
Data are collected directly from survey respondents.
The data are collected using both a CATI application and an Electronic Questionnaire. An introduction pamphlet is sent in advance to respondents for which an address is available.
View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s)
Disclosure control
Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.
