To
access the GSS Data, you will have to click on the picture below.
However, before you click on the picture, please read or print the
instructions. So that after you click on the picture and access the
data, you will just follow the written or printed directions.
Step 1: Go to https://gssdataexplorer.norc.org
Links to an external site.
Step 2: Click on “Key Trends” in the top right hand corner.
Step
3: The GSS includes thousands of variables. Let’s say that you decide
to write your report on support for affirmative action among African
Americans. To do this, click on “Differences & Discrimination” under
“Civil Liberties.”
A trend analysis of “Opinion of Affirmative Action”
appears. It shows that in 1994, 9% of GSS respondents said that they
“strongly support” affirmative action. By 2016, 15% of study
participants said that they “strongly support” affirmative action.
Step
4: However, the information in this graph does NOT include data
specifically on African Americans. To access this data, click on the box
near the top-middle of the screen that says “Total.” A new window will
pop up. Scroll down the list and select on “Race.”
A new trend analysis will appear. It shows trend lines
for “whites,” “blacks,” and “others” (which includes data for Asians,
Latinos, etc.). The data now indicates that 44% of African Americans
“strongly supported” affirmative action in 1994, but only 28%
did by 2016.
Step
5: Let’s say that you decide to not write your research report on
affirmative action. To explore other topics, click on the green words
“Opinion of Affirmative Action” near the top of the page. A long list of
possible topics related to “Civil Liberties” will appear. You can
select on any of these topics. You can also search other categories of
variables such as “Gender and Marriage,” “Current Affairs,” “Politics,”
“Quality of Working Life,” and “Religion and Spirituality.” These
categories appear near the top of the page under the word “Trends.”
Step
6: In choosing your final topic, be sure to look at the two boxes
underneath the variable you’ve selected: (1) “Question Response,” and
(2) “Breakdown.”
“Question Response” are the possible answers to the
survey question that respondents were asked. These often include “yes,”
“no,” “strongly agree,” “strongly disagree,” for example.
“Total” is your independent variable (or the way you’re
choosing to breakdown the data). The GSS allows you to analyze the data
by clicking on other independent variables such as “age,” “highest
degree” (or education), “sex” (male or female), and “marital status,”
for example.
Finally, the actual question that respondents were
asked appears below the trend analysis under the term “Question text.”
Be sure to mention this in your research report.
Each
student will prepare a brief research report related to a social
issue of his/her choosing using data from the General Social Survey and
the GSS’s Data Explorer tool (http://gss.norc.org/). You will upload
this essay into Blackboard. The report should be approximately two to
three pages in length.
In this report, you are required to do each of the following:
Clearly identify the social
issue addressed in their report, which should be related to one of the
following topics from the GSS: gender and marriage, current affairs,
civil liberties, politics, quality of working life, or religion and
spirituality (concept from rubric: identification).
Then clearly identify two
variables (survey questions) from the GSS that you will include in your
analysis. One of these variables must be related to your selected social
issue (e.g., ‘Family life suffers because men focus too much on
work’ is one survey question/variable within the ‘children and working’
and ‘gender and marriage’ areas of the GSS). You will explain how this
variable is related to your selected social issue. The second
variable should be selected from the ‘Breakdown’ section of the web
page, such as age or subjective class identification (detailed
instructions are listed below). You will also propose a hypothesis about
the relationship between the two variables (concept from rubric:
assimilation).
You will use the GSS Data Explorer to perform a bivariate analysis (concept from rubric: analysis).
You will present a table or
graph from your analysis using the GSS Data Explorer and briefly
describe the relationship, if any, between the two variables (concept
from rubric: presentation).
You will draw a conclusion
about the relationship between the two variables and provide a short
summary of your findings (concept from rubric: application).
