Information About the Roper Center's Japanese Data Collection

The Japanese Data Library
The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research is a leading non-profit, university-based, research facility and archive dedicated to the study of US and international public opinion.		Click here to Go to information about JPOLL
Apart from the question-level database, the Roper Center maintains an extensive library collection of Japanese survey data that it began acquiring in earnest in 1992 with support from the Center for Global Partnership. As a result of this effort, scholars can research the Center's robust collection of Japanese survey data—some 1,500 reports and about 200 datasets from surveys conducted in Japan between 1980 and 1998. The collection is well organized, carefully maintained, and thoughtfully documented.		Click here to download the Japanese Data Catalog
In addition to the complete studies, we have trended data on party identification in Japan dating back to 1946. This information can be broken down by age, education, gender, and a number of other demographic variables.		Search for Japanese datasets on the Roper Center's Survey Archive search tool
When the Roper Center's collection achieved a critical mass—in terms of its substantive content, time period covered, and survey organizations represented—we began transforming the series into a question-level retrieval system (JPOLL) that could be easily accessed and drawn upon through the Internet by interested users
The Japanese collection is only a part (albeit a significant part) of the Roper Center's extensive international data collection, which includes a large Latin American collection, and broad representation from Canada, Great Britain, and European countries.

On the Translation Process
Nearly all the studies in our archive were received in their original Japanese form. Thus, we had to go through the rigorous process of translating these questions into meaningful English.
We have made great pains to reproduce the spirit of the question as it was asked in the original Japanese survey. Although we tried to choose English wording closest to the Japanese wording, we were more sensitive to replicating the actual meaning of the question.		Click here to send questions or comments
We retain a large collection of data for which we have neither the time nor the resources to translate into English. This data will be made available to English-speaking users as we are able.

JPOLL (the on-line database)
This database contains more than 10,000 public opinion questions and the respective responses from Japan's major survey research sources.
These studies cover social, political, and economic topics throughout the current decade.		Click here to go to JPOLL User's Guide
Users can search for public opinion questions using keywords, topics, dates, and organizations as search criteria.		Click here to Start a JPOLL Query
JPOLL includes the capacity to view the complete text of questions and responses, translated into English, as well as all relevant study-level information.		Click here for a description of the Topics used in JPOLL
Access to JPOLL is currently free of charge to the public as a result of generous funding from our partnership with United States - Japan Foundation.
JPOLL is organized and operated much like the Center's on-line POLL system which indexes and retrieves US survey data. Continuity between the two databases will facilitate quality cross-national research by allowing researchers to explore issues that have been examined through opinion polls in both the US and Japan. Together JPOLL and POLL are of tremendous value to those who seek a better understanding of both American and Japanese attitudes and opinions and will assist considerably in discussions and evaluations of Japan-US relations.

 
A Note of Thanks

Such a resource would not have been possible without the assistance of many individuals and organizations working in the field of public opinion and Japan studies. The Center would like to thank the following organizations and individuals for their assistance: The Asahi Shimbun, Central Research Services, Inc., The Institute of Statistical Mathematics, Jiji Press, Ltd., NHK, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc., Nikkei Research, Inc., The Public Relations Office of the Prime Ministers Secretariat, The Shin Joho Center, Tokyo Broadcasting System, Inc., The United States Information Agency, The Yomiuri Shimbun, and Ichiro Miyake of Kobe University. Truly, without their help, this rich collection of data could not have been brought together. The Center would also like to thank the members of its initial advisory committee—Gerald Curtis of Columbia University, John Campbell of the University of Michigan, Scott Flanagan of Florida State University, Ellis Krauss of the University of California at San Diego, and Seymour Martin Lipset of George Mason University—for their thoughtful advice and guidance. Again, the Center is proud to acknowledge the support of the . United States - Japan Foundation

Copyright 2007 The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT.
Original source copyright maintained by individual survey firms.