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VAR CF0902 TYPE OF HOUSE RACE
COLUMNS 561 - 562
NUMERIC
MD EQ 0
TYPE OF HOUSE RACE
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USE WEIGHT VARIABLE VCF0009/VCF0009A/VCF0009B.
IMPORTANT NOTE: NES samples are not designed to be representative
at the Congressional district level. Samples include cases from
only some U.S. Congressional districts; for most congressional
districts in which interviewing actually takes place, only a small
number of interviews are taken.
THIS VARIABLE IS AVAILABLE FOR 1970, 1974 AND 1976 AS WELL AS 1978-
1990. SEE NOTE ['WARNING'] BELOW.
The codes used in this variable differ slightly from the type of race
codes in the original 1978, 1980, and 1984-later study vars. Code
amendments (collapsing codes 61-69 together with codes 51-59) were due
to the necessity of incorporating 1982 codes, which were somewhat
different from other years.
Codes 40 and 49 apply to 1982 only, when, as a result of
redistricting, 2 incumbents were running in several congressional
districts. These 1982 districts were: NY17 (18 cases) and SD98 [at
large] (1 case). For Cumulative Data File variables referent to "the
incumbent" and "the challenger" (i.e. vars 908-927,946,947,950-
960,991,993-1003-1005,1012), the incumbent who represented R's
sampling location BEFORE the 1982 redistricting has been considered
R's 'incumbent' in these variables and the other candidate (incumbent
previously not representing R's sample location) has been considered
the 'challenger' to the running incumbent. For 1982 cases in NY17
(code 40), this means that the Democratic incumbent has been
considered "the incumbent" and the Republican incumbent has been
designated as "the challenger." For the 1982 case in SD98 (code 49),
the Republican incumbent has been regarded "the incumbent" and the
Democratic incumbent as "the challenger."
In one district in 1992 (LA06), two Republican 'incumbents' ran
against each other due to redistricting, but neither candidate had
previously represented the actual geographic area. As a result, this
race has been designated a unique type (45) and neither candidate has
been treated as an 'incumbent.' In all House-level feeling
thermometers, likes/ dislikes, contact etc. the 1992 LA06 race has
been treated as if it had been an open race: data for one Republican
candidate [always the same candidate] has been folded into the
variable normally reserved for the Democratic candidate. A note has
been provided in each variable in which this approach has been taken
for 1992 LA06 data.
1992 Special Note: Late in 1994, in conjunction with field work for
the 1994 NES, it became apparent that in 71 cases of the 1992 NES
Study an incorrect CD number had been assigned. These errors affect
all questions related to House race which are administered according
to assigned-CD candidate names. In the introduction to this codebook
is a listing of 1992 (pre) case IDs with correct congressional
districts, however no data have been changed in this file as a
result. Users of CDF data can delete these cases from affected vars
if desired.
Note that the 1978 data in this variable do not exactly match the data
in the original 1978 NES dataset: several congressional districts in
1978 were not accurately coded by NES for type of House race. MS03
was coded as 14 in the original 1978 data but should have been coded
12 (24 cases); NY19 was coded as 12 in the original 1978 data but
should have been coded 14 (9 cases); NY38 was coded as 21 but should
have been coded 24 (14 cases). In VCF0902 these cases have been
corrected. However, note that in other Cumulative Data File
900s-series congressional vars except for VCF0904, VCF0905 and
VCF1004-1014, candidate-level data (e.g., contact vars, thermometers,
likes/dislikes continue to accord with the original 1978 dataset's
incorrectly designated type of race for MS03, NY19 and NY38.
1984 corrections: 1 case in TX 22 and 1 case in WA01 were mistakenly
coded 65 in the original dataset and have been corrected to 55 here.
Also, 1 case in WI05 was mistakenly coded 13 and has been corrected to
14 here. 1 case in OH08 and 1 case in WI09 were mistakenly coded 12
and have been corrected to 21 here. Finally, 4 cases in CA38 were
incorrectly coded (1 as 13, 3 as 21) and have been corrected to 12
here. These changes have been reflected in VCF1004 and VCF1005 where
necessary.
For 1992 'panel' cases, this provides the type of race for the 1992
congressional district of R's original address (address when sample
selection was made in 1990) rather than the address to which R may
have moved by the time of the 1992 interview(s).
For 1994 and 1996, codes represent in all cases type of race in CD of
interview location [see note VCF0900 and VCF0901] for the current
Study year.
WARNING: In 1970, 1974 and 1976, no type of race var was present in
the original NES datasets. Data for these years have been added to
VCF0902 by implementing a case-by-case determination of type of race
for every R's congressional district through consultation of reference
materials. The resultant data in VCF0902 for these years have been
checked somewhat, but perfect accuracy cannot be guaranteed due to the
nature of attempting case-by-case coding. The possibility of some
error must be recognized, and the type of race established in VCF0902
(and data in VCF0904-905 by derivation) for 1970, 1974 and 1976 should
be used with caution and at the user's risk. If you find errors,
please notify NES staff.
1996 note: 14 Pre interviews were conducted before the status of
the congressional race in R's district assumed its final form. These
cases are flagged in 1996 Study variable V960127, and the race type
projected at the time the Pre interview was administered is documented
in 1996 Study variable V960128. (In such cases Pre survey data are
consistent with V960128.)
1998 note: 2 districts had the incorrect type of race identified,
and the 1998 instrument was administered according to the incorrect
type of House race. Cumulative Data File variables utilize 1998
data which have not had corrections made: In 1998, cases in AL07
should have been type race 14 (instead of 24); cases in CA41 should
have been type race 55 (instead of 12).
12. Democratic incumbent running--Republican challenger
13. Democratic incumbent--other challenger
14. Democratic incumbent running--unopposed
19. Democratic incumbent running--Republican challenger
and others
21. Republican incumbent running--Democratic challenger
23. Republican incumbent--other challenger
24. Republican incumbent running--unopposed
29. Republican incumbent running--Democratic challenger
and others
31. Other incumbent running--Democratic challenger
32. Other incumbent running--Republican challenger
34. Other incumbent running--unopposed
40. Democratic and Republican incumbents running--no
other candidate (1982 only: see note above)
45. Two Republican incuments running (1992 only: see
note above)
49. Democratic and Republican incumbents running--other
candidate (1982 only: see note above)
51. No incumbent Repr. running--Democratic candidate
unopposed
52. No incumbent Repr. running--Republican candidate
unopposed
53. No incumbent Repr. running--other candidate unopposed
55. No incumbent Repr. running--Democratic and Republican
candidates
56. No incumbent Repr. running--Republican and other
candidates
57. No incumbent Repr. running--Democratic and other
candidates
59. No incumbent Repr. running--Democratic and Republican
and other candidates
85. No identifiable incumbent, Democratic and Republican
candidates in open race due to redistricting (1992
ONLY)
00. INAP, Washington D.C.; California (1974 only, due to
redistricting type of race could not be determined);
question not used
1978: 780004 1980: 800740 1982: 820006
1984: 840059 1986: 860043 1988: 880050
1990: 900058 1992: 923021 1994: 940017
1996: 960097 1998: 980065
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Walter Mebane
Mon Nov 12 02:55:58 EST 2001