For the past 28 years, these countywide, random-digit-dialed, computer-assisted telephone surveys systematically measured the continuities and changes in demographic patterns, life experiences, attitudes and beliefs among successive representative samples of Harris County residents. Using identical items across the years, with new questions added periodically, the annual Houston Area Survey (HAS) has tracked America's fourth largest city in the process of fundamental transformation. Survey items on religion inquire about service attendance, religious preference, the racial composition of the respondent's place of worship, and the importance of religion to the respondent.

For the past 28 years, these countywide, random-digit-dialed, computer-assisted telephone surveys have systematically measured the continuities and changes in demographic patterns, life experiences, attitudes and beliefs among successive representative samples of Harris County residents. Using identical items across the years, with new questions added periodically, the annual Houston Area Survey (HAS) has tracked America's fourth largest city in the process of fundamental transformation. Houston recovered from deep recession in the 1980s to find itself squarely in the midst of a restructured economy and a demographic revolution. New economic, educational, and environmental challenges have redefined the 'pro-growth' strategies required for urban prosperity in the twenty-first century. At the same time, major immigration flows have transformed Houston into one of the nation's most culturally diverse metropolitan areas, at the center of the transformations that are refashioning the social and political landscape of urban America. The overall purpose of this continuing project is to measure systematically the way area residents are responding to these remarkable changes, and to make the findings of this research widely available to the general public and to research scholars everywhere. Conducted annually during February and March, the interviews measure perspectives on the local and national economies, on poverty programs, interethnic relationships, and the new immigration; beliefs about discrimination and affirmative action, about education, crime, health care, taxation, and community service; assessments of downtown development, mobility and transit, land-use controls, and environmental concerns; attitudes toward abortion, homosexuality, and other aspects of 'the social agenda.' They record religious and political orientations, as well as a rich array of demographic and immigration characteristics, socioeconomic indicators, and family structures.