STUDY CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS:
In the cases for this derivative file, respondents were asked the same questions documented for the ANES 1972 Time Series Study, the ANES 1974 Time Series Study, and the ANES 1976 Time Series Study; some of the respondents in this file are counted as members of one or more of these Time Series studies.

STUDY DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS:
This file includes all cases and variables from the 1972, 1974, and 1976 Time Series studies. It also defines three separate panels that each includes a set of participants who were not Time Series study members, the 1972-1974-1976 panel, the 1972-1974 panel, and the 1974-1976 panel.

In each year 1972, 1974, and 1976, respondents could be defined as 'panel-only,' 'Time Series only' or 'both panel and Time Series.' Members of the last group were counted in the cross-section of the year's Time Series study and were also counted within one or more of the panels. The yearly status of interview cases as panel, cross-section, or both is as follows:

'Panel and Time Series' cases intersect membership as follows.

* in the 1972-1976 Merged File, there are 2,259 cases identified as 1976 cross-section; 11 of these
are not in the release of the 1976 Time Series study, which includes 2,248 cases.

For the panels, attempts were made to follow movers who still lived within 50 miles of a sample area. In 1974, panel reinterviews were sought with all respondents who had been interviewed in both waves of the 1972 Time Series study; in 1976, panel reinterviews were sought with existing panel members and with the new cross-section cases from the 1974 study.

1972-1974-1976 panel respondents are 1972 Time Series cross-section respondents who were interviewed twice (pre and post) in 1972 and then successfully re-interviewed in 1974 and in at least 1 wave in 1976; also among the cases defined for this panel are 24 cases of 1972 pre-and-post respondents who were re-interviewed in 1976 (both pre and Post) even though they had not been re-interviewed in 1974. 1972-1974 panel respondents are 1972 Time Series cross-section respondents who were interviewed in both 1972 waves and then re-interviewed in 1974, regardless whether they were ever re-interviewed in 1976. 1974-1976 panel respondents are 1974 cross-section respondents who were re-interviewed at least once in 1976 (pre or post). The 1974-1976 panel includes respondents not present in either of the other panels because the 1974 cross-section incorporated new respondents as well as respondents who had already participated in the 1972 Time Series study.

WEIGHTS SUMMARY:
As with the individual Time Series study releases for these years, the 1974 and 1976 Time Series data in this file should be weighted using, respectively, variables V742003 and V763003; both compensate for differential sampling rates among the study sample components. The same weight values from V742003 and V763003 are also found in variables V764006 and V764007, which can also be used as sample selection variables to isolate cases from these Time Series studies.

Samples for the the 1972-1974-1976 panel, the 1972-1974 panel, and the 1972 Time Series study are unweighted; a sample selection variable is present for each (V764002, V764003 and V764005, respectively).

For the 1974-1976 panel, weight/sample selection variable V764004 selects cases from this panel and also weights to compensate for the differential sampling rates used in 1974 and 1976 for the different sample components.

AUXILIARY FILE DESCRIPTION:
No auxiliary file is present for this derivative file release.