Questions and activities

We will be looking at what factors (let's use age, polviews, reborn, sex, religion) might influence public opinion about favoring death penalty for murder (cappun).

1.Draw a model of this regression analysis using boxes and arrows diagram.

a.HINT: You need to make clear which are the independent and dependent variables, and what the direction of influence is.

2.Replicate the SPSS output provided below.

a.Run Logistic regression (Analyze>Regression>Binary Logistic) using the following variables from the GSS 2016: cappun, age, polviews, reborn, sex, religion. The interface is very similar to the linear regression one, but with "covariates" instead of "independent variables".

b.HINT: Before running the logistic regression, you will need to recode the following variables (best to use "Transform>Recode into different variables" so you don't lose the original data):

i.Dependent Variable (cappun) so that 1 = Favor and 0 = Oppose. E.g. new variable called cappun2. The "Old-->New" box should look like this: 2-->0; 1-->copy; ELSE-->SYSMIS. After creating new variable, make sure to create new "values" on Variable View, e.g. 0 = "Oppose", 1 = "Favor".

ii.Independent Variables: Recode "Reborn" variable so that 1 = Reborn experience and 0 = No reborn experience (rest system missing). Make sure to label new variable values!

iii.Recode "Sex" variable so that 1 = Male and 0 = Female (rest system missing). Label new variable values!

iv.Do two things with the Religion variable: a) recode to move any religions not in the results below to "other"; b) identify this recoded variable as categorical when running the logistic regression. Label new variable values!

3.Provide the full logistic regression analysis of the SPSS output. Specifically, look at the "Variables in the Equation" table and interpret the EXP (B) coefficient (odds) for the significant results. NOTE: The coding for the variable is presented in the SPSS Variable View in the "Values" column. Click on any variable you need information about. The variables' coding will help you to interpret the odds correctly.

a.HINT: Put another way: Are Conservatives more likely to favor the death penalty? Are Men more likely to favor the death penalty? The Exp(B) for polviews and sex tell you whether they are more likely (>1) or less likely (

4.Calculate the probability of favoring death penalty for murder for a catholic man, moderate in political views and without "born again" experience. HINT: Examples calculations used for this and Q5 are provided below. There are also examples in the slides and videos; however these are for older GSS data, and so have different results.

5.Calculate the probability of favoring death penalty for murder for a non-believer woman with a "born again" experience and extremely liberal in her political views.

REPLICATE THE FOLLOWING FOR QUESTION 2! THEN YOU CAN USE THE RESULTS FOR QUESTIONS 3-5

NOTE: ONLY KEY RESULTS ARE INCLUDED

Logistic Regression

Case Processing Summary Unweighted Cases. N Percent Selected Cases Included in Analysis 2540 88.6 Missing Cases 327 11.4 i Total 2867 100.0 Unselected Cases 0 Total 2867 100.0 a. If weight is in effect, see classification table for the total number of cases. Dependent Variable Encoding Original Value Internal Value Oppose 0 Favor Categorical Variables Codings Parameter coding Frequency (1) (2) (3) (4) relig2 i Protestant 1226 1.000 .000 .000 Catholic 579 000 1.000 000 000 Jewish 47 000 000 1.000 000None 555 .000 .000 .000 1.000 Other 133 000 .000 000 00 0 Variables in the Equation B S.E Wald df Sig- Exp(B) Step 1" Age of respondent .000 002 .017 1 896 1.000 Think of self as liberal or conservative 330 031 120.104 .000 1.403 rebom2 -.398 097 16.785 000 871 sex2 342 086 15.952 000 1.407 relig2 10.807 4 .031 relig2(1) 111 . 197 .316 .574 1.117 relig2(2) -.174 .202 .744 .388 840 relig2(3) -.305 353 745 .388 737 relig2(4) -.228 .203 1.246 1 .264 797 Constant -.885 237 13.202 1 000 421 3. Variable(s) entered on step 1: Age of respondent, Think of self as liberal or conservative, reborn2, sex2, relig2