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The CSDS Data Unit has data on the official election results of:
Survey Data Sets
Survey Data
The CSDS has pioneered large-scale empirical studies of the social and cultural basis of politics in South Asia. The Data Unit houses data sets for Eight national and many more state level assembly elections. Besides pre-poll and post-poll data sets the Unit also possesses exit-poll data sets with large sample sizes, which would be a treasure for survey methodologists and those working on forecast models. The State of Democracy in South Asia data provides an opportunity for in-depth cross-national analysis of the region. Data sets of a number of popular opinion polls and surveys of targeted groups have been useful in to researchers and students from around the world.
The National Election Studies (NES)
The National Election Study in 1967 was the first survey-based national level study of political opinions and attitudes in India. This was followed by another national level study conducted at the time of the 1971 general elections. During the 1980 Lok Sabha elections, while the CSDS designed the all-India survey, the Indian Institute of Public Opinion (IIPO), Delhi conducted the fieldwork. Although strictly not a part of the NES series, this survey can be used to partly fill the gap in the series. During the 1980s, survey research did not figure prominently on the centre’s intellectual agenda, nor was the series taken over by any other institution. This resulted in a long break in the time series data. It was not before the mid-1990s that the CSDS revived the tradition with the NES ? 1996. Ever since then the centre has been committed to conducting a study during every parliamentary election. The NES ? 1996, 1998 and 1999 were conducted on a panel of respondents and a total of six waves of surveys of a nationally representative sample of the electorate were conducted in a short span of three years. The NES 2009 is the largest social scientific study of the political behaviour, opinion and attitudes of the Indian electorate to this date.
State Assembly Election Studies
The State Assembly Election Studies started in 1965 with the Kerala Election Study. In the 1970s and 1980s surveys of state assembly elections were not held and it was after a long break of over 25 years that State Assembly Election Studies were revived in 1995 with the Bihar Election Study. After 1996 the centre has conducted surveys during most assembly elections held in India. These data sets are one of the most valuable sources for comparative analysis of Indian states.
State of the Nation Surveys (SONS)
In 2006 CSDS diversified into popular opinion polling in collaboration with the news media. The State of the Nation Surveys (SONS) has become a regular half-yearly phenomenon. The unique feature of SONS is that each wave has a different thematic focus of study. Youth, minorities, in particular Muslims, patterns of religiosity and opinions on economic reforms have been some of the thematic areas covered by the SONS series.
Other selected data sets
