Independent Variables

Variables Question
Independent Variables:

SRCBELT SRC BELTCODE - 0 NOT ASSIGNED;
1 = 12 LRGST SMSA'S;
2 = SMSA'S 13-100;
3 = SUBURB, 12 LRGST;
4 = SUBURB, 13-100;
5 = OTHER URBAN;
6 = OTHER RURAL

Recoded as City (1, 2), Suburbs (3,4),
Rural (5,6)
Dependent Variables:
HAPPMAR

MNTLHLTH

GUNLAW

ABANY

TEENSEX
“Taking all things together how would you describe your marriage?”
FIGURES 1-4.

"Now thinking about your mental health, which includes stress, depression, and problems with emotions, for how many days during the past 30 days was your mental health not good?"
Recoded as 0, 1-5, 6-30.
FIGURE 5.

“Would you favor or oppose a law which would require a person to obtain a police permit before he
or she could buy a gun?”
FIGURE 6.

"Woman has right to legal abortion for any reason."
FIGURE 7.

“What if they are in their early teens, say 14 to 16 years old? In that case, do you think sex relations before marriage are always wrong, almost always wrong, wrong only sometimes, or not wrong at all?”
FIGURE 8.
Control or Test Variables:
YEAR

AGE
2006
Age grouped by 18-30 “Young”; 31-50 “Middle”; 51-89 “Old”
Hypothesis:

Married couples who live in rural areas are happier than couples who live in large cities.

Rationale:

Daily life in larger cities is more hectic and cause more strain on relationships.

FIGURE 1. Happiness of couples by area of residence.
N=96GSSYEAR2006
Statistics for AGE = 1(YOUNG)
Cells contain:
-Column percent
-N of cases SRCBELT 1
LARGECITY 2
SUBURBS 3
RURAL ROW
TOTAL
HAPMAR 1: VERY HAPPY 66.7
8 69.6
16 62.3
38 64.6
62
2: PRETTY HAPPY 33.3
4 26.1
6 36.1
22 33.3
32
3: NOT TOO HAPPY .0
0 4.3
1 1.6
1 2.1
2
COL TOTAL 100.0
12 100.0
23 100.0
61 100.0
96

FIGURE 3.
Happiness of couples by area of residence.
N=361GSSYEAR2006
Statistics for AGE = 3(OLD)
Cells contain:
-Column percent
-N of cases SRCBELT 1
LARGECITY 2
SUBURBS 3
RURAL ROW
TOTAL
HAPMAR 1: VERY HAPPY 72.7
32 64.9
63 65.9
145 66.5
240
2: PRETTY HAPPY 27.3
12 32.0
31 32.3
71 31.6
114
3: NOT TOO HAPPY .0
0 3.1
3 1.8
4 1.9
7
COL TOTAL 100.0
44 100.0
97 100.0
220 100.0
361

Color coding: 2.0 Z
N in each cell: Smaller than expected Larger than expected

FIGURE 4. Happiness of couples by area of residence.
N=830GSSYEAR2006
Statistics for all valid cases
Cells contain:
-Column percent
-N of cases SRCBELT 1
LARGECITY 2
SUBURBS 3
RURAL ROW
TOTAL
HAPMAR 1: VERY HAPPY 65.0
67 64.9
144 63.2
319 63.9
530
2: PRETTY HAPPY 33.0
34 32.0
71 34.3
173 33.5
278
3: NOT TOO HAPPY 1.9
2 3.2
7 2.6
13 2.7
22
COL TOTAL 100.0
103 100.0
222 100.0
505 100.0
830

Color coding: 2.0 Z
N in each cell: Smaller than expected Larger than expected

Hypothesis:

People who live in larger cities are more likely to suffer from stress, depression, and problems with emotions more than those who live in a rural area.
Rationale:

Daily life in a larger city can cause higher stress, depression, and problems with emotions due to the higher crime rates, traffic, and hectic life style.
FIGURE 5. Mental Health over the past 30 days by area of residence.
N=49,098GSS1972-06
Frequency Distribution
Cells contain:
-Column percent
-N of cases SRCBELT 1
LARGECITY 2
SUBURBS 3
RURAL ROW
TOTAL
FEWORK 1: 0 47.9
5,358 49.9
6,153 49.4
12,641 49.2
24,152
2: 1-5 50.9
5,702 49.1
6,048 49.5
12,651 49.7
24,401
3: 6-30 1.2
137 1.0
122 1.1
286 1.1
545
COL TOTAL 100.0
11,197 100.0
12,323 100.0
25,578 100.0
49,098

Color coding: 2.0 Z
N in each cell: Smaller than expected Larger than expected

Hypothesis:

People who live in large cities are more tolerant of gun laws than people who live in small towns.

Rationale:

Residents are of large cities are more tolerant of gun laws for personal protection against intruders and keeping guns out of the hands of people with prior records.

Frequency Distribution
Cells contain:
-Column percent
-Weighted N SRCBELT 1
LARGECITY 2
SUBERBS 3
RURAL ROW
TOTAL
GUNLAW 1: FAVOR 90.0
144.1 87.8
278.2 70.9
456.1 78.4
878.4
2: OPPOSE 10.0
16.1 12.2
38.8 29.1
187.4 21.6
242.3
COL TOTAL 100.0
160.2 100.0
316.9 100.0
643.5 100.0
1,120.6

Color coding: 2.0 Z
N in each cell: Smaller than expected Larger than expected

Hypothesis:

People who live in large cities approve of women’s right to an abortion compared to small cities.

Rationale:

People who live in large cities have a blasé attitude towards abortions.

FIGURE 7. ATTITUDES TOWARDS ABORTION BY AREA OF RESIDENCE
N.1093.6GSSYEAR2006
Frequency Distribution
Cells contain:
-Column percent
-Weighted N SRCBELT 1
LARGECITY 2
SUBERBS 3
RURAL ROW
TOTAL
ABANY 1: YES 50.1
80.5 43.3
133.8 33.5
209.0 38.7
423.2
2: NO 49.9
80.2 56.7
175.2 66.5
415.1 61.3
670.4
COL TOTAL 100.0
160.6 100.0
308.9 100.0
624.1 100.0
1,093.6

Color coding: 2.0 Z
N in each cell: Smaller than expected Larger than expected

Hypothesis:

Teens that live in large cities are more likely to participate in pre-marital sex than teens who live in small cities.

Rationale:

Teens in large cities are more likely to participate in pre-marital sex due to less supervision. Teens are less likely to participate in pre-marital sex in tight-knit communities.

FIGURE 8. ATTITUES TOWARDS TEEN SEX BY AREA OF RESIDENCE
N.1138.7GSSYEAR2006
Frequency Distribution
Cells contain:
-Column percent
-Weighted N SRCBELT 1
LARGECITY 2
SUBERBS 3
RURAL ROW
TOTAL
TEENSEX 1: ALWAYS WRONG 67.5
115.7 71.6
230.7 75.7
488.3 73.3
834.7
2: ALMST ALWAYS WRG 16.2
27.8 16.8
54.2 12.6
81.1 14.3
163.2
3: SOMETIMES WRONG 11.7
20.0 6.6
21.3 7.0
45.2 7.6
86.5
4: NOT WRONG AT ALL 4.5
7.8 5.0
16.0 4.7
30.5 4.8
54.3
COL TOTAL 100.0
171.3 100.0
322.3 100.0
645.1 100.0
1,138.7

Color coding: 2.0 Z
N in each cell: Smaller than expected Larger than expected

In conclusion to the data that was collected, I would have to refute Wirth’s hypothesis. Of the five hypotheses only two had larger contrasts between the large cities and rural areas. These two hypotheses were attitudes towards gun laws and abortion rights. The hypotheses of attitudes towards happy marriages, mental health, and teen sex were closely related between large cities and rural areas.