1) Looking at a representative slice of the American adult population, identify what percentage
are currently married (enter marital in the Row Box) in 2012. Be sure to put year (2012) in the
Selection Filter(s) Box.
a) 32 percent
b) 46 percent
c) 52 percent
d) 65 percent
Now let’s examine the trend for the marital status. Put marital in the Row Box and year (be sure
to use the recoded variable) in the Column Box. Remember to keep Selection Filter box empty for
this question. Answer Questions 2 and 3 using this table.
2) Which of the following best describe the trend for marital status (marital)?
a) The percentage of married persons has been declining since the 1970s
b) The percentage of married persons has been increasing since the 1970s
c) There is no clear trend
d) none of the above
179
3) How about the trend for those who never married?
a) the percentage of never married persons has declined from 1970s to 2000s.
b) there have been no substantial changes in the percent who never marry
c) the percentage of never married persons appears to have steadily increased
d) none of the above
4) What percentage of 2002 GSS respondents considered it important for young people to get
married (getmar)? (Hint: enter getmar in the Row Box and year (2002) in the Selection Filter
Box).
a) 24%
b) 34%
c) 44%
d) 54%
e) 64%
5) Is there a relationship between getmar and age? Enter getmar in the Row Box, age in the
Column Box, and year (2002) in the Selection Filter(s) Box.
a) There is no significant relationship between getmar and age.
b) The younger people are more likely to consider it important for young people to get married.
c) The elderly are more likely to consider it important for young people to get married.
d) The middle age population (aged 40 to 64) are most likely to consider it important for young
people to get married.
e) none of the above
6) According to the GSS 2002 data, what age is considered an ideal age to get married?
To answer this question, simply enter getmar1 (age should get married) in the Row Box,
and year (2002) in the Selection Filter(s) Box. Be sure to click Statistics and Question Text before
clicking Run the Table command. What is the mean ideal age for marriage (look for the statistic at
the end of the table). Round off the age you find to the nearest whole number: .1 through .4 goes
to the lower whole number; .5 through .9 rounds up to the next highest number. .
a) 20
b) 22
c) 26
d) 29
e) 40
7) Is there a gender difference in their view of ideal age at marriage? Evaluate this hypothesis by
visiting the GSS analysis page, http://sda.berkeley.edu/sdaweb/analysis/?dataset=gss12. Select
180
Means option. Now entering getmar1 in the Dependent Box, sex in the Row Box, and year (2002)
in the Selection Filter(s) Box. Select the best answer from the following statements.
a) Among male respondents, the ideal age at getting married is 29.
b) Among female respondents, the ideal age at getting married is 27.
c) The difference between male and female respondents in their view of ideal age at marriage
is about 2 years.
d) The difference between male and female respondents in their view of ideal age at marriage
is very small.
e) a, b, and c only
We will need to resume to frequency analysis for the following questions. Simply go to:
http://sda.berkeley.edu/sdaweb/analysis/?dataset=gss12.
8) Investigate whether there have been any shifts in age at first marriage by tabulating agewed
by year (Hint: put agewed in Row Box and year in Column Box.) Selection Filter box should be
kept blank for this question.
a) the percentage of those who married young (less than 21) has increased substantially from
1970s to 2000s
b) the percentage of those who married young (less than 21) has decreased from 1970s to 2000s
c) the percentage of those who married at age 26 or older has not changed from 1970s to 2000s
d) none of the above
Do a three-way crosstabulation using sex as a control variable and run the tendency to never
marry (marital) by age differences (age) to see whether there are any gender differences in
remaining unmarried among younger respondents. Hint: the dependent variable is marital and the
independent variable is age. Be sure to use year (2012) in the selection filter.
9) What does this analysis show?
a) younger females are more likely to remain unmarried now than among older generations of
women
b) younger males are more likely to remain unmarried now than among older generations of
men; men appear to be more inclined to remain unmarried compared to women
c) the data show no appreciable gender differences in the tendency to remain unmarried among
younger respondents
d) none of the above
e) a and b of the above
Interracial marriage is an important sub-field in the study of marriage and family. In the next few
questions, we will examine correlates of attitude toward interracial marriages. The GSS has been
collecting data asking respondents whether they favor law against racial intermarriage (racmar)
since 1972. First, let’s look at the relationship between racmar and race (racecen1). Be sure to
181
put racmar in the Row Box, racecen1 in the Column Box, and year (2002) in the Selection
Filter(s) Box.)
10) Based on the table, which of the following is true?
a) Blacks are more approving of interracial marriage than whites.
b) Whites are more approving of interracial marriage than blacks.
c) Asians are more approving of interracial marriage than blacks.
d) Hispanics are most approving of interracial marriage.
e) there is no significant racial/ethnic difference in attitudes toward interracial marriage.
Next, let’s examine the relationship between racmar and age (age). Again enter racmar in the
Row Box, age in the Column Box, and year (2002) in the Selection Filter(s) Box.)
11) Based on the crosstabulation between racmar and age, which of the following is true?
a) those who are 65 years and older show the most approval for interracial marriage.
b) those younger than 30 years old show the most approval for interracial marriage.
c) the relationship between racmar and age is not significant statistically.
d) Those aged between 30 and 64 show the most approval for interracial marriage
e) none of the above
Does one’s religion have any impact on their attitude toward interracial marriage? Our next
question will examine the relationship between racmar and religion (relig) using the GSS 2002
data.
12) Based on the crosstabulation between racmar and relig, which of the following is true?
a) Protestants are least likely to support interracial marriage than other religious groups.
b) Catholics are least likely to support interracial marriage than other religious groups.
c) Jews are least likely to support interracial marriage than other religious groups.
d) Those who have no religious affiliation are least likely to support interracial marriage
e) none of the above
Another variable that may shed some light on one’s attitude toward interracial marriage is one’s
socioeconomic status. To investigate this question, enter racmar in the Row Box and prestg80 in
the Column Box. Make sure to enter year (2002) in the Selection filter Box.
13) Based on the crosstabulation between racmar and prestg80, which of the following is
true?
a) High prestige respondents are less likely to support interracial marriage than their lower
182
prestige counterparts.
b) Low prestige respondents are less likely to support interracial marriage than their high
prestige counterparts.
c) The results are unclear.
d) The relationship between racmar and prestg80 is not significant.
e) none of the above
Our next variable is education. Does one’s level of education influence their attitudes toward
interracial marriage? To answer this question, enter racmar in the Row Box and degree in the
Column Box. Again, you need to enter year (2002) in the Selection filter Box.
14) Based on the crosstabulation between racmar and degree, which of the following is true?
a) Those who have a low level of education (less than high school) are least likely to support
interracial marriage.
b) Those who completed high school are least likely to support interracial marriage.
c) Those who have at least some college education are least likely to support interracial
marriage.
d) The results are unclear.
e) The relationship between racmar and education is not significant.
15) How have people’s attitude toward interracial marriage changed over the past few decades?
Tabulate racmar (dependent variable) by year (independent variable). Remove year (2002) from
Selection Filter for this question.
a) people’s attitudes have not changed during the past few decades.
b) the data show that respondents have become more conservative (favor laws against racial
intermarriage) over the past few decades.
c) the data suggest that respondents have become more accepting of racial intermarriage)
during the past few decades.
d) although respondents have become more accepting over time, the relationship between
racmar and year fell short of statistical significance.
e) a and d only
One of the sociological findings in recent years regarding marriage is that black women are
finding it harder and harder to find a spouse. Presumably, the proportion of unmarried black
women has increase in recent years. Let’s explore this hypothesis. To do this, use marital as the
dependent variable, race as the independent variable, and year as the control variable. In the
Selection Filter(s) Box, enter sex (2). This means that we are selecting only female respondents.
Now answer the following question.
16) According to the GSS data, which of the following is true?
a) In the early 1970s, the proportion of black women who were never married was comparable
to those of whites.
183
b) The data shows that the percentage of black women who were never married has increased
from 10% in the early 1970s to 38% during the 2005-2012 period.
c) The data show that the percentage of white women who were never married has increased
from 11% in the early 1970s to 18% during the 2005-2012 period.
d) all of the above
e) only a and c
Now, let us shift our focus on divorce and investigate correlates of divorce… For questions #17
to # 20, use the GSS 2012 data. You can accomplish this task by entering year (2012) in the
Selection Filter(s) Box.
17) Using the GSS 2012 data, tabulate the experience of ever getting divorced (divorce), and
answer the question below: what is the percentage of ever married people who were ever divorced?
(Hint: Put divorce in the Row Box and year (2012) in the Selection Filter(s) Box.)
a) 25 percent
b) 34 percent
c) 44 percent
d) 54 percent
18) Is there an association between having been divorced (divorce) and growing up with both
parents at age 16 (family16) for GSS 2012 data?
a) those who have been living with both parents when they were growing up appear more
divorce-prone than those not growing up with both parents
b) those who have been living with both parents when they were growing up appear less
divorce-prone than those not growing up with both parents
c) there is no association between being divorced and whether they grow up with both parents
or not
d) none of the above
19) Past studies have found that working wives are more divorce prone than housewives. Is
there an association between having been divorced (divorce) and a wife’s current work status
(wrkstat)? Be sure to enter year (2012) in the Selection Filter(s) Box.
a) career women are more divorce-prone than housewives
b) housewives are more divorce-prone than career women
c) there is no association between being divorced and a woman’s current work status
d) none of the above
For question 20, use GSS 2006 data. You can accomplish this task by entering year (2006) in the
Selection Filter(s) Box.
184
20) Is getting divorced (divorce) significantly related to the timing of marriage (agewed)? For
this question, be sure to put year (2006) in the Selection Filter(s) Box.)
a) those marrying later in life are more divorce-prone
b) those marrying at younger ages are more divorce-prone
c) there is no clear association between the timing of marriage and the likelihood of divorce
d) none of the above
For question 21, use GSS 1994 data. You can accomplish this task by entering year (1994) in the
Selection Filter(s) Box.
21) Does cohabitation before marriage reduce or increase the likelihood of divorce? Tabulate
ever being divorced (divorce) with having cohabited prior to marriage (cohabit)? What does the
data show?
a) those cohabiting before marriage have greatly elevated chances of later divorcing
b) those cohabiting before marriage have slightly greater chances of later divorce
c) no differences are noted between those with and without cohabitation experiences and
divorce
d) those cohabiting before marriage have a lower divorce risk
e) none of the above
22) Use GSS 2012 data. Tabulate an individual’s likelihood of getting married (marital) by the
integrity of their parent’s marriage (divor16). What does the data show?
a) those whose parents divorced are less likely to remain unmarried
b) those whose parents divorced are more likely to remain unmarried
c) there appears to be no statistically significant association between parental divorce and
remaining unmarried
d) none of the above
23) Now use the GSS 1994 data and tabulate an individual’s likelihood of cohabiting before
marriage (cohabit) by the integrity of their parent’s marriage (divor16). What does the data show?
a) those whose parents divorced are less likely to cohabit before marriage
b) those whose parents divorced are more likely to cohabit before marriage
c) there appears to be no statistically significant association between parental divorce and
having cohabitation experiences
d) the differences approach but fail to achieve statistical significance
e) a and d of the above
Does parental divorce increase the risk of having a child out-of-wedlock? To answer this
question, we need to create another new variable, illegit.
For questions 24 to 26, use the GSS 2012 data.
24) Tabulate an individual’s likelihood of bearing a child out-of-wedlock (illegit) by the
integrity of their parent’s marriage (divor16). What does the data show?
a) those whose parents divorced are less likely to have children born out-of-wedlock
b) those whose parents divorced are more likely to have children out-of-wedlock
c) there appears to be no statistically significant association between parental divorce and
bearing illegitimate children
d) the differences approach but fail to achieve statistical significance
e) a and d of the above
25) Does parental divorce (divor16) impact upon their adult children’s fertility (childs); does it
reduce/ or increase the size of their children’s families?
a) those whose parents divorced are less likely to have large families compared to those
coming from intact parental homes
b) those whose parents divorced are more likely to have large families compared to those
coming from intact parental homes
c) there appears to be no statistically significant association between parental divorce and their
children’s fertility
d) the differences approach but fail to achieve statistical significance
e) c and d of the above
