1. Social Factors and Public Opinion Michael Milburn Psychology 335

2. Why would you expect differences on social grouping variables? For example, age, gender, education, income, race Age: –Growth (maturation) –Living a different times/having different experiences (cohort effect) Gender: differential socialization (Fivush) Education/Income –Different opportunities/interact with different people –Different interests –Different expectations in life Race –Different opportunities/experiences/interactions O.J. Simpson case—National Jury Project

3. Examining Relationships between Demographic Variables and Public Opinion Create contingency table of responses Raw counts in each cell of the table Percentage across levels of the dependent variable Identify the causal model DV: Typically the opinion variable

4. “Do you agree that we should have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan during WWII?” Yes Maybe No Old Young 252015 202530 N = 135

5. “Do you agree that we should have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan during WWII?” Yes Maybe No Old Young 252015 202530 N = 135 Question: What is the DV?

6. “Do you agree that we should have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan during WWII?” Yes Maybe No Old Young 252015 202530 N = 135 Opinion is DV, so calculate row percentages

7. “Do you agree that we should have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan during WWII?” Yes Maybe No Old Young 252015 202530 N = 135 Step 1: calculate row totals 60 75

8. “Do you agree that we should have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan during WWII?” Yes Maybe No Old Young 25/6020/6015/60 20/7525/7530/75 N = 135 Step 2: divide by row totals 60 75

9. “Do you agree that we should have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan during WWII?” Yes Maybe No Old Young 42%33%25% 27%33%40% N = 135 Step 3: calculate percents 100%

10. “Do you agree that we should have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan during WWII?” Yes Maybe No Old Young 42%33%25% 27%33%40% N = 135 Question: Are proportions the same? Do the same percentage of old and young people agree? 100%

11. National Election Survey (NES) Data--Examples Focus on the ideological (Liberal- Conservative) aspect of the relationships among the variables

12. Historical Relationships

13. Further examples Opinion questions answered on a 1 to 7 scale I grouped together responses (1-2), (3,4,5), and (6-7) into three columns

14. 1988 NES Data

15. More 1988 Data

16. A final 1988 question

17. Summary Different domains of opinion Foreign policy/economic/social issues For the relationship of income/education: FP: no relationship Economic: more conservative as income/education increase Social: more liberal as income/education increase