Feminist Art Panel

Organised by Althea Greenan, co-hosted by Women’s Art Library

Woman's Day Survey, 1984

The Woman's Day Survey, conducted jointly by Woman's Day Magazine and the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women in 1984, is a major survey of women's political attitudes. Over one hundred sixteen thousand women completed an 83-item, precoded questionnaire distributed in Woman's Day Magazine, at the time the largest response ever to a magazine survey. Of the responses, 2,776 were selected in a systematic random sample for analysis. Reflecting the readership of Woman's Day Magazine, the sample was predominantly White, married, and from the Midwest and more rural areas. Equal numbers of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents participated in the survey, resulting in a sample that was over-representative of Republicans. The questionnaire examined attitudes toward the 1984 elections, women in politics, the women's movement, the economy, employment, schools, government spending, health care, crime, energy and the environment, foreign policy, and women's rights issues. Data on the respondent's race, age, family structure, political party affiliation, income, education, religion, employment, and community were also collected. Accompanying 1.4% of the returned questionnaires were unsolicited personal letters further delineating the political attitudes and demographic profiles of the respondents. The Murray Archive holds additional analogue materials for this study (uncoded surveys and letters from 1,607 respondents who included a letter with their responses). If you would like to access this material, please apply to use the data