Chapter 7 -- Exercises for Change Over Time

In the previous
chapter we discussed the analysis of change over time. The data for this module
include information from three samples of adults living in California. The
earlier sample was collected in 1985, while the later samples were collected
in 1991 and 1995. In this chapter you will use crosstabulation (described
in Chapter Three) to analyze trends over time. The exercises compare these
cross-sectional surveys at three points in time. This is called a trend study.

 

EXERCISE ONE

One of the questions
asks respondents if they agree or disagree that "despite recent gains by women,
when all is said and done, it is still essentially a man's world." We want
to find out if there has been change in public opinion from 1985 to 1991 and
1995 and which types of individuals were more (or less) likely to change.

Question 1.
Find this question in the codebook (Appendix A). Locate
the variable name for this question. This is the name the computer recognizes.
You will have to use this name when asking the computer to do something for
you. What is the variable name?

Question
2. What percent agree strongly and agree somewhat with this statement
in 1985? in 1991? in 1995? Let's use crosstabulation to get these figures.
You will have to crosstabulate V8 by YEAR to do this. Be sure to ask for
the column percents and chi square. What does the chi square allow you to
say about the difference between these percentages?

Question
3. Let's combine agree strongly with agree somewhat and also combine
disagree strongly with disagree somewhat so that we have only two categories--agree
and disagree. You will have to use a recode command to do this. (Your instructor
will show you how to do this.) Then crosstabulate V8 by YEAR again. Describe
changes from 1985 to 1991 and 1995. Is this table clearer than the previous
one?

Question
4. We want to discover which types of people are more likely to change.
Let's start by asking if men or women are more likely to change. You will
have to crosstabulate V8 by YEAR by V34 (sex), asking for the column percents
and chi square. Write a short paragraph describing changes for men and for
women. Be sure to cite the appropriate percent differences and use chi square
in your analysis.

Question
5. Now, find out if younger, middle-aged, or older respondents are more
likely to change and if those with less education are more likely to change
than those with more education. Be sure to use the age and education variables
which have already been recoded. Write a short paragraph describing the
results.

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EXERCISE TWO

Another question
asks respondents if they agree or disagree that "it's more important for a
wife to help her husband's career than to have a career." We want to find
out if public opinion has changed from 1985 to 1991 and 1995 and which individuals
were more (or less) likely to change.

Question 1.
Find this question in the codebook (Appendix A). What
is the variable name?

Question
2. What percent agree strongly and agree somewhat with this statement
in 1985? in 1991? in 1995? Use crosstabulation to get these figures. You
will have to crosstabulate V15 by YEAR to do this. Be sure to ask for the
column percents and chi square. What does chi square allow you to say about
the difference between these percentages?

Question
3. In this exercise, we want to recode so we have only two categories--agree
strongly and not agree strongly. Combine agree somewhat with disagree somewhat
and disagree strongly so that we have only these two categories. Remember
that you will have to use a recode command to do this. Now crosstabulate
V15 by YEAR again. Is this table clearer than the previous one?

Question
4. We want to discover which types of people are more likely to change.
Specifically, if men or women are more likely to change, if younger, middle-age,
or older respondents are more likely to change, and if those with less education
are more likely to change than those with more education. Write a short
paragraph describing the changes for these groups of individuals. Be sure
to cite the appropriate percent differences and use chi square in your analysis.

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EXERCISE THREE

Select one of
the other opinion variables that was included in all of the surveys. Analyze
the changes in opinion for this variable. Look at both the overall changes
for the entire sample and the changes for subgroups (e.g., men and women,
younger and older). Use chi square in your analysis. Write a brief report
explaining what you did and describing the results. Include your tables in
the report.