Haberman (1978) reports data from the National Opinion Research Center on attitudes toward abortion (cf. Table 4.17). The data TABLE 4.16. Occurrence of Esophageal Cancer Alcohol Cancer Age Consumption Yes No 25-34 High 1 9 Low 0 106 35-44 High 4 26 Low 5 164 45-54 High 25 29 Low 21 138 55-64 High 42 27 Low 34 139 65-74 High 19 18 Low 36 88 75+ High 5 0 Low 8 31 were collected over 3 years. Analyze the abortion attitude data treating attitude as a response variable.
Respondents were identified by their years of education and their religious group. The groups used were Catholics, Southern Protestants, and other Protestants. Southern Protestants were taken as Protestants who live in or south of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. Attitudes toward abortion were determined by whether the respondent thought that legal abortions should be available under three sets of circumstances. The three circumstances are

(a) a strong chance exists of a serious birth defect,

(b) the woman’s health is threatened, and

(c) the pregnancy was the result of rape. A negative response in the table consists of negative responses to all circumstances. A positive response is three positives. A mixed response is any other pattern. Find an appropriate model for the data. Interpret the model and draw conclusions from the estimates. (Haberman also presents similar data based on three different circumstances: the child is not wanted, the family is poor, and the mother unmarried.)