The California Survey of AIDS Knowledge, Attitudes and Behavior: 1987 gathered data through a survey of California adults for the purpose of forecasting the course of the AIDS epidemic and planning risk reduction programs in the State of California.

Augmented data collection was employed for three risk-groups: (1) gay-identifying men, (2) multiple/high-risk partner heterosexuals, and (3) recreational drug users. Interviews were conducted from October 4, 1987 through December 20, 1987. The 1988 follow-up study to the California Survey of AIDS Knowledge, Attitudes and Behavior: 1987 has been archived as Sociometrics AIDS/STI Data Archive Dataset 02.

The 1987 data collection program had eight major objectives:

Interviews were conducted from October 4, 1987 through December 20, 1987. The completion rate for interviews was 71%. Interviews were conducted in two stages. An initial 15-minute interview determined whether a respondent was a member of one or more of three AIDS high-risk groups: gay-identifying men, multiple/high-risk partner heterosexuals, or recreational drug users (not limited to intravenous drug use). If a respondent qualified as high-risk, an additional battery of questions, lasting about 20 minutes, was administered.