These are the first large-scale surveys of Mormons ever conducted, with or without church auspices, based upon probability samples of adult Mormon householders. As of century's end, these are the only such surveys available to the public, although the "https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/?lang=eng" Target="_blank">LDS Church has in recent years conducted many private surveys of its own for various purposes. Large as they are, the Mauss surveys cannot be considered representative of all Mormons everywhere, of course, even in the 1960s, but they are certainly representative of Salt Lake City Mormons then, as well as of the most highly urbanized San Francisco Mormons (and, by extension, perhaps of Mormons in similar sections of other American cities).

The questionnaire and the survey procedures were modeled in large part after those of the Glock and Stark 1964 survey of Northern California churches (which did not include Mormons). Accordingly, the 23-page questionnaire includes many items intended to measure various dimensions of religiosity; the usual demographic and social class information; the conversion experience (for converts); religious defection and reactivation; civil liberties; and attitudes toward blacks and Jews.

The nature and scope of these Mormon surveys, which used identical questionnaires, were intentionally guided by those of the Glock and Stark instrument and were carried out during the principal investigator's doctoral studies under Glock. The survey procedures in Salt Lake City were fairly straightforward and yielded data as representative for Mormons as the Glock and Stark survey was for Catholics and Protestants. However, the rationale for selecting the two Mormon wards in San Francisco, and none of the others, was that the Bay and the Mission Wards consisted disproportionately of the most "urbanized" church members (as opposed to suburban neighborhoods) -- that is, those closest to the inner-city, the apartment dwellers and the temporary residents. These two Mormon wards also included most of the ethnic minorities among Mormons in San Francisco (primarily Hispanic, Polynesian and Asian-Americans). The idea was to get as stark a contrast as possible to the Salt Lake City Mormons.

This project examined physical incivilities (disorder), social strengths and vulnerabilities, and police reports in a declining first-ring suburb of Salt Lake City. Physical and social conditions were assessed on residential face blocks surrounding a new subdivision that was built as a revitalization effort. Data were collected before and after the completion of the new subdivision to assess the effects of the subdivision and of more proximal social and physical conditions on residents' blocks in order to understand important revitalization outcomes of crime, fear, and housing satisfaction and conditions. The study also highlighted place attachment of residents as a psychological strength that deserved greater attention. The research site consisted of a neighborhood located on the near west side of Salt Lake City that had been experiencing gradual decline. The neighborhood surrounded a new 84-unit single family detached housing subdivision, which was built in 1995 with money from a HUD demonstration grant. The study began in 1993 with a systematic observational assessment of crime and fear-related physical features on 59 blocks of the older neighborhood surrounding the planned housing site and 8 sampled addresses on each block, followed by interviews with surrounding block residents during 1994-1995, interviews with residents in the newly built housing in 1997, and interviews and physical condition assessments on the surrounding blocks in 1998-1999. Police crime report and city building permit data for the periods during and immediately following both waves of data collection were obtained and matched to sample addresses. Variables in Parts 1 and 2, Environmental and Survey Data for Older Subdivision, focus on distance of respondent's home to the subdivision, psychological proximity to the subdivision, if new housing was in the respondent's neighborhood, nonresidential properties on the block, physical incivilities, self-reported past victimization, fear of crime, place attachment, collective efficacy (neighboring, participation, social control, sense of community), rating of neighborhood qualities, whether block neighbors had improved property, community confidence, perceived block crime problems, observed conditions, self-reported home repairs and improvements, building permits, and home satisfaction. Demographic variables for Parts 1 and 2 include income, home ownership, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, marital status, if the resident lived in a house, household size, number of children in the household, and length of residence. Variables in Part 3, Environmental and Survey Data for Intervention Site, include neighborhood qualities and convenience, whether the respondent's children would attend a local school, and variables similar to those in Parts 1 and 2. Demographic variables in Part 3 specify the year the respondent moved in, number of children in the household, race and ethnicity, marital status, religion, sex, and income in 1996.

The 1915 Iowa State Census is a unique document. It was the first census in the United States to include information on education and income prior to the United States Federal Census of 1940. It contains considerable detail on other aspects of individuals and households, e.g., religion, wealth and years in the United States and Iowa. The Iowa State Census of 1915 was a complete sample of the residents of the state and the returns were written by census takers (assessors) on index cards. These cards were kept in the Iowa State Archives in Des Moines and were microfilmed in 1986 by the Genealogical Society of Salt Lake City. The census cards were sorted by county, although large cities (those having more than 25,000 residents) were grouped separately. Within each county or large city, records were alphabetized by last name and within last name by first name. This data set includes individual-level records for three of the largest Iowa cities (Des Moines, Dubuque, and Davenport; the Sioux City films were unreadable) and for ten counties that did not contain a large city. (Additional details on sample selection are available in the documentation). Variables include name, age, place of residence, earnings, education, birthplace, religion, marital status, race, occupation, military service, among others. Data on familial ties between records are also included.