The Center for Study of Politics and Society (CSPS) focuses on the investigation of societal change in comparative perspective. The National Data Program for the Social Sciences (NDPSS) is its largest component. The NDPSS has conducted the General Social Survey (GSS) in the United States 26 times from 1972 through 2006. The GSS tracks societal change, develops models to explain societal change, studies socio-demographic sub-groups through the pooling of cases across surveys, and improves survey research methodology through experiments and design innovations.

Since 1982 the NDPSS has had a cross-national component. Its main part has been the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) which was co-founded by NORC in 1984. The ISSP has conducted annual surveys from 1985 to the present and now has 43 member countries. Other cross-national research includes the International Mental Health Stigma Study and studies of the terrorist attacks in the US and Spain.

The CSPS also carries out considerable research on religion in general and religious change in particular. The work of Andrew Greeley on the sociology of religion includes research on evangelicals, images of God, trends in belief in life after death, and many other aspects. Tom W. Smith has done studies on the incidence and nature of spiritual transformations, the decline of Protestantism in the US, and religious change around the world.

Selected Publications

Smith, T.W. and Kim, S. 2006. "National Pride in Comparative Perspective: 1995/96 and 2003/04." International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 18(1): 127-16.

Smith, T.W. 2005. A Report on the 2005 ISSP Non-Response Survey.  GSS Cross-national Report no 24.  Chicago: NORC.

Smith, T.W. 2005. The Holocaust and its Implications: A Seven Nation Comparative Study. New York, NY: American Jewish Committee.

Greeley, A.M., Hout, M. and Wilde, M.  2001. "The Demographic Imperative in Religious Change in the United States." American Journal of Sociology, 107(2).

Greeley, A.M. and Hout, M.  2001. "Getting to the Truths that Matter." American Sociological Review, Vol. 66 (1).

Greeley, A.M. and Hout, M.  1999. "Americans' Increasing Belief in Life after Death: Religious Comeptition and Acculturation." American Sociological Review, 64(6): 813-835.