Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The aims of this study were: a)To apply a more sensitive set of measures on political participation in order to test the largely feminist assertion that women engage in a wide range of activities hitherto overlooked by researchers; b)on the basis of (a) to contribute to a reconceptualisation of the <i>the political</i>; c) to acquire original data about the political activities of women (and a smaller sample of men) within Northern Ireland.

Main Topics:

Measures of public/political participation: formal involvement with a political party; grassroots party activities; informal political activities not related to a party; the nature and types of involvement in groups/organisations; mpral/political socialisation of children; consumer activism; the expression and efficacy of expression of political views within interpersonal relationship Structural effects (e.g., age, class, gender, socio-economic status) upon public activity Interpersonal effects (e.g., religious identity, spouse support, significant individuals or significant events, self-assessed personal efficacy) upon public activity Sterotyping of politicians Perceptions of and identification with the women's movement/feminism Congruence of public activity within couples Some of the questions used in the survey were drawn from other sources, including the British Social Attitudes and its Northern Ireland adjunct. Their questions were often modified during the course of pretesting and piloting.

Multi-stage stratified random sample

Face-to-face interview