Some Gss Variables And Their Measures Essay Sample

List the names of the variable and the questionson the GSS that are the indicator(s) ofthose variables.

Mandatory conscription for females
How would you feel about a program that required all young
women to give one year of service to the nation - either in the
military forces or in non-military work such as in hospitals or
with elderly people - would you strongly favor it, probably
favor it, probably oppose it, or strongly oppose it?
[1 = Strongly favor; 2 = Probably favor; 3 = Probably oppose; 4 = Strongly oppose; 0 = IAP; 8 = DK; 8 = NA]

Mandatory conscription for males

And how would you feel about such a program for all young
men - would you strongly favor it, probably favor it, probably
oppose it, or strongly oppose it?
[1 = Strongly favor; 2 = Probably favor; 3 = Probably oppose; 4 = Strongly oppose; 0 = IAP; 8 = DK; 8 = NA]

Pay and benefits for military personnel

How do you feel about the pay and benefits that people in the armed forces receive?
[1 = Should be larger; 2 = About right; 3 = Should be smaller; 0 = IAP; 8 = DK; 9 = NA]

Has marriage strengthened faith

How often have these events strengthened your religious
faith? c. Marriage
[1 = Often; 2 = Sometimes; 3 = Never; 0 = IAP; 8 = DK; 9 = NA]

Have English positive contribution to country

Since the beginning of our country, people of many
different races, nationalities, and religions have come here and
settled. As I name some of these groups please tell me if the
group has made one of the most important positive contributions
or little positive contribution to this community. a. English
[1 = most important contribution; 2 = Important contribution; 3 = Some important contribution; 4 = Little positive contribution; 0 = IAP; 8 = DK; 9 = NA]

R ethnicity vs American Identity

When you think of social and political issues, do you think
of yourself mainly as a member of a particular ethnic, racial,
or nationality group or do you think of yourself mainly as just
an American?
[1 = Just an American; 2 = Some part ethnic GRP; 3 = 2 or more ethnic GRPS; 4 American and Ethnic GRPS; 5 = It depends; 0 = IAP; 8 = DK; 9 = NA]

American quality of life vs other Indus. nations

Do you feel that the quality of life is better in American than in most other advanced industrial counties, about the same, or do you feel that people are better off in most other advanced industrial countries than they are in the United States?
[1 = Better in American; 2 = About the same; 3 = Better in other adv cntry; 0 = IAP; 8 = DK; 9 = NA]

R’s HH poverty status

Poverty Status of Household
[1 = Poor; 2 = Poor-Imputed; 3 = Not poor; 4 = Not poor-imputed; 5 = Borderline; 6 = Borderline-imputed; 0 = Not imputable]

Will immigrants lead to economic growth

What do you think will happen as a result of more
immigrants coming to this country? Is each of these possible
results very likely, somewhat likely, not too likely or not at
all likely? a. Higher economic growth
[1 = Very likely; 2 = Somewhat likely; 3 = Not so likely; 4 = Not at all likely; 0 = IAP; 8 = DK; 9 = NA]

Immigrants cause American to lose jobs

What do you think will happen as a result of more
immigrants coming to this country? Is each of these possible
results very likely, somewhat likely, not too likely, or not
likely at all? c. People born in the U.S. losing their jobs
[1 = Very likely; 2 = Somewhat likely; 3 = Not too likely; 4 = Not likely at all; 0 = IAP; 8 = DK; 9 = NA]

How paid in main job

In your main job, are you salaried, paid by the hour, or
what?
[1 = Salaried; 2 = Paid by the hour; 3 = Other (Specify)
0 = IAP; 8 = Don’t know; 9 = No answer]

How regularly R drink over last 12 months

Thinking back over the last 12 months, about how regularly
did you drink alcoholic beverages?
[1 = Never in those 12 months; 2 = 1 to 3 times in 12 months; 3 = 4 to 7 times in 12 months; 5 = 1 to 3 times a month; 6 = once or twice a week; 8 = 5 times a week or more; 0 = IA; 99 = No answer]

How successful is govt: providing HLTH care for the sick

How successful do you think the government in America is
nowadays in each of the following areas? a. Providing health
care for the sick
[1 = Very successful; 2 = Quite successful; 3 = Neither successful nor un-successful; 4 = quite un-successful; 5 = Very un-successful; 0 = IAP; 8 = Can’t choose; 9 = NA]
Some people earn a lot of money while others do not earn very much at all. In order to get people to work hard, do you think large differences in pay are . . .
[1 = Absolutely necessary; 2 = Probably necessary; 3 = Probably not necessary; 4 = Definitely not necessary; 0 = IAP; 8 = Can’t choose; 9 = NA]

Comment on the specific questions that wereused.

All the fourteen questions seem clear and easy to understand for the respondents. Thirteen of the 14 questions used to measure the variables appeared to be valid measures of the variables. However, one question (question for measuring mandatory conscription for females (a) might not have accurately measured the respondent’s perceptions toward mandatory military service. The reason is that the question combined military with non-military service. The response to the question about military service might be influenced not by duty to serve but by the risk involved. When the question involves non-military service, people might respond to the non-military part, not the military part, or respond to the military part but not non-military aspect.
Unlike the questions, the answer categories of most of the questions are most likely confusing. Ten of the fourteen questions seem to have confusing responses. For variables/questions a, b, c, d, e, g, I, j, m, and n, the value that is the highest in value represents the category that is seem to have the smallest or lowest value. For instance, question (d) uses 1 for “often” and 3 for “never”. Similarly, in question (j), 1 is used for “very likely” and 4 “Not likely at all”. However, if the question are studied carefully, or if the researchers explain them to the respondents, this confusion can be avoided.

References

GSS. (n. d.). GSS 1972-2008 Cumulative datafile. Retrieved from http://sda.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/hsda?harcsda+gss08