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Appropriate punishment, on a six-point scale from reprimand to life in prison, for a government official or employee who leaks sensitive information to the press; 1998 and 2000 wordings differ somewhat in the scenario description.
AI-matched An AI model grouped these questions and mapped their answers onto shared categories, and a second AI review checked and corrected the grouping and mapping. No person has checked it: compare the question wordings and the answer mapping below before reading the lines against each other.
Latest: 14% answered “Reprimand” in GSS: Punishment for leaking sensitive information to a newspaper, 2000.
Shares of everyone asked, including non-answers. Each point is one survey wave at the middle of its field period. Lines from different surveys are never spliced together.
| Line | Question | Match | How answers map |
|---|---|---|---|
| GSS: Appropriate punishment for official leaking information | Appropriate punishment for official leaking information Now I'm going to ask you about several offenses. For each case, indicate (Number 1-6) what you would consider the appropriate punishment for each case.
B. A high-placed government official leaked sensitive information to a newspaper in order to influence public opinion about a controversial political issue. The official received no money. Caveat: Offender is a high-placed official; dismissal labeled military only | equivalent | Reprimand → Reprimand; Dismiss military → Dismissal; 1 year in prison → Short prison (up to 1 year); 5-9 yrs prison → Long prison/life (5+ years); 10-20 yrs prison → Long prison/life (5+ years); Life in prison → Long prison/life (5+ years) |
| GSS: Punishment for leaking sensitive information to a newspaper | Punishment for leaking sensitive information to a newspaper I'm going to ask you about several offenses. For each case, indicate what you would consider to be the appropriate punishment when the offender is a military service member or government employee.
B. Leaking sensitive information to a newspaper in order to influence public opinion about a controversial political issue. The offender received no money. Caveat: Offender is military member or government employee; scenario wording differs from other year | identical | Reprimand → Reprimand; Dismissal from the military/fired by the government → Dismissal; One year in prison → Short prison (up to 1 year); 5-9 years in prison → Long prison/life (5+ years); 10-20 years in prison → Long prison/life (5+ years); Life in prison → Long prison/life (5+ years) |