CSES Integrated Module Dataset (IMD)

The CSES Integrated Module Dataset (IMD) brings together selected variables from CSES Modules 1-5 into one longitudinal and harmonized dataset. Variables that appear in at least three CSES Modules, up to and including CSES Module 5, are eligible for inclusion in IMD. All polities that have participated in CSES Modules 1-5 are included in the dataset. CSES IMD includes over 395,000 individual-level observations across 230 elections in 59-polities, as well as voter evaluations of over 800 parties and 600 leaders. Among several unique innovations of CSES IMD are the harmonization of party/coalition numerical codes within polities across CSES Modules, the creation of a pre-coded incumbent vote choice variable and political information indexes, extensive macro data over a quarter of a century, and within-dataset labels for all parties/coalitions.

View the IMD Codebook Online

Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Variables Description
Part 3: Parties/Coalitions – Numerical Codes
Part 4: Part 4: Parties/Coalitions/Leaders – Alphabetical Codes
Part 5: Data Bridging Identifiers

Stimulus Paper

CSES IMD Stimulus Paper – Final version [PDF]

Source Modules

The IMD includes data from the following CSES modules:

CSES Module 1 (1996-2001)
CSES Module 2 (2001-2006)
CSES Module 3 (2006-2011)
CSES Module 4 (2011-2016)
CSES Module 5 (2016-2021)

How do I merge additional variables from CSES modules onto the IMD?

The IMD contains several identifiers that allow users to merge additional variables from CSES modules onto the IMD. One means of doing so is to use the respondent identification variable, which appears as variable IMD1005 in the IMD. Variable IMD1005 uniquely identifies each respondent and maps onto the respondent identification variable found in each individual CSES module.

How do I navigate the online CSES IMD Codebook?

The CSES IMD Codebook can be navigated quickly by users employing the following commands for searching:

))) is for navigating to a new section of the Codebook

>>> is for navigating to a new variable in the Codebook

POLITY NOTES is for navigating to polity notes in the Codebook

ELECTION STUDY NOTES is for navigating to Election Study Notes in the Codebook

BRIDGING IDENTIFIER is for navigating to a potential Data Bridging Variable in the Codebook

More detailed information regarding how to navigate the CSES IMD Codebook is available in all parts of the Codebook by searching for the term “HOW TO NAVIGATE THE CSES IMD CODEBOOK”

CSES Integrated Module Dataset (IMD) Release

February 27, 2024 version

You can download the dataset below to your own computer for analysis.

Errata – list of updates and error corrections
Funding Sources and How to Cite the Study
DOI: doi:10.7804/cses.imd.2024-02-27 (What is this?)

Analyze on your own computer

First, create a local directory to download the files into. We recommend:

c:\cses\imd\20240226\

Second, download the codebook:

cses_imd_codebook.zip

Third, download one or more of the following six files, depending on which statistical package(s) you intend to use with the data, and how:

cses_imd_csv.zip – CSV file (.csv)
cses_imd_r.zip – R dataset (.rdata)
cses_imd_sas.zip– SAS dataset (.sas7bdat)
cses_imd_spss.zip – SPSS dataset (.sav)
cses_imd_stata.zip– STATA dataset (.dta)
cses_imd_syntax.zip – Raw data and syntax for SAS, SPSS and STATA