NJPS 1971

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Sponsor: Council of Jewish Federations

Principal Investigators: Dr. Fred Massarik, NJPS Scientific Director, University of California of Los Angeles, Dr. Bernard Lazerwitz, Public Opinion Survey Unit, University of Missouri (responsible for the NJPS sample design and initial computations) and Dr. Morris Axelrod, Department of Sociology, Arizona State University (responsible for field supervision and data processing).

NJPS 1971 was the first comprehensive national study of the Jewish population in the United States. The purpose of this study was to gain information into the size and general composition of the US Jewish population, focusing on the demographic characteristics, social conditions, the nature of Jewish identification, and participation in Jewish services and activities. The study was undertaken with the understanding that insight into this population’s character and needs can enhance community planning activities.

Data collection occurred from 1970 to 1972. Mid-field work was in 1971.

The data were gathered from 5,790 individuals in households with one or more Jewish individuals via a personal interview. It is estimated that there were 5,800,00 persons (of whom 5,370,000 were Jews) living in Jewish households. Another 50,000 Jews lived in institutions. Regionally, 64% lived in the East, 17% in the Central, 8% in the South, and 11% in the West. Average household size for all persons in Jewish households was 2.98. Average number of Jewish persons in Jewish households was 2.84.

The sampling universe included Jewish households located throughout the United States. A “yes” reply to at least one of four questions for at least one household adult qualified the household as Jewish. The four screening questions were:

Was person born Jewish?
Is person Jewish now?
Was person’s father born Jewish?
Was person’s mother born Jewish?

Data were collected through in-home personal interviews. The sampling strategy consisted of using lists of Jews living outside the New York City metropolitan area, which were supplemented by an area probability sample of Jews not on such local lists, together with an area probability sample of Jews in the New York metropolitan area. In total, interviews were conducted in 39 primary sampling units with at least moderate size Jewish populations and in 14 counties, which were selected to represent the “no known Jewish population” stratum. Jewish federations provided lists of Jewish housing units. Area probability samples were selected from housing units not on federation lists. Thus, the sample included communities of all sizes and in all parts of the United States. Over 2,950 Jews were interviewed from lists and about 2,800 Jews were identified through an area probability sample. Average interview length was 90 minutes.

Weighting procedures were used so that the list interviews and the area probability interviews were combined at the same overall sampling fraction.

Publications: A series of eight reports plus methodology documentation were prepared by CJF. The eight reports are entitled:

Demographic Highlights
Jewish Identity
Jewish Education
Jewish Aging
Intermarriage
Jewish Community Services
Mobility
National and Regional Population Counts

For additional information about NJPS 1971 see Bernard Lazerwitz publications noted in the bibliography in the book: Lazerwitz, Bernard, J. Alan Winter, Arnold Dashefsky and Ephraim Tabory, Jewish Choices: American Jewish Denominationalism. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1998.

We have available from this study:

The User's Guide
The Questionnaire
The Dataset in SPSS portable format
The codebook.

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Mandell L. Berman Institute North American Jewish Data Bank Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life, University of Connecticut 405 Babbidge Rd, Unit 1205, Storrs, CT 06269-1205 email: info@jewishdatabank.org - phone: 860-486-2271 - fax: 860-812-2032