Senior Seminar Data Analysis
Crosstabulation Family Income $17,500-$35,000- Voting<$17,500$34,999$59,999$60,000+ Voted 60% 73% 75% 84% Did not 40% 27% 25% 16% Total 100% 100% 100% 100% (n) (424) (550) (541)(433)
Crosstabulating Variables Crosstabulations reveal 4 aspects of the association between 2 variables: –Existence: is there a correlation? –Strength: How strong does the correlation appear to be? –Direction: Positive or negative correlation? –Pattern: Are changes in the percentage distribution of the dependent variable fairly regular (simply increasing or decreasing), or do they vary?
Controlling for a Third Variable Associations (correlations) do not necessary mean causation Use elaboration analysis to determine whether an association is due to a causal relationship or to another variable Three types…. Intervening, extraneous, and specification...
Intervening Variables Income Perceived Efficacy Voting
Extraneous Variables IncomeVoting Education
Example RQ: Are juvenile church attendees less likely to be deviant than juveniles that don’t attend church? HYP: Juvenile church attendees are less likely to be deviant than juveniles that don’t attend church. The 3 criteria for Causation –CorrelationCorrelation The data indicated a correlation between the two variables (church attendance and delinquency) –Time Order Much more difficult to establish for questionnaire data Other research indicates that church attendance reflects family religious patterns – These patterns are generally established before a teen is born Thus, time order is probably controlled for
–Spuriousness Could another variable be the determining factor for delinquency instead of church attendance? (Elaboration Analysis) – Race Race – School School – Grade – Gender Gender
Church Attendance And Delinquency Church Attendance FrequentInfrequent Delinquent 22% 38% Not Delinquent 78% 62% % 100%
Control for Race Church Attendance Frequent Infrequent Whites Delinquent Not Delinquent % 100% African Americans Delinquent Not Delinquent % 100%
Control for School Church Attendance Frequent Infrequent High School #1 Delinquent Not Delinquent % 100% High School #2 Delinquent Not Delinquent % 100%
Control for Sex Church Attendance Frequent Infrequent Boys Delinquent Not Delinquent % 100% Girls Delinquent Not Delinquent % 100%
Findings The hypothesis was not supported! The correlation between church attendance and delinquency is spurious –The third variable of gender appears to be an extraneous variable