EXERCISES AND PROJECTS

Exercise 16-1

Using the following data for 30 survey respondents, construct a bivariate table displaying the relationship between age and whether people voted in the 2012 election. Arrange the independent variable, age, in three categories: young (18–34), middle-aged (35–54), old (55 and older). Make sure your table follows the guidelines for bivariate table construction outlined in the text.

Age Voted in 2012? Age Voted in 2012?
42 yes 41 yes
36 no 35 no
53 yes 18 no
19 no 75 yes
72 no 44 yes
57 yes 39 no
40 yes 20 no
22 yes 68 yes
21 no 25 yes
65 no 30 no
50 yes 48 yes
20 yes 59 no
81 yes 72 no
30 yes 21 no
38 no 46 yes

Exercise 16-2

You have surveyed 200 respondents to test the hypothesis that political ideology (liberal, moderate, conservative) is related to the region of the country (Northeast, Midwest, South) in which people live. Treating region as the independent variable and political ideology as the dependent variable, determine the lambda coefficient for the following data.

Ideology Region

Northeast Midwest South

Liberal 40 16 8
Moderate 20 34 20
Conservative 14 16 32

Exercise 16-3

In a random survey, 124 lower-class, middle-class, and upper-class respondents were asked: "How important is having a college education to getting ahead in life? Do you think it is very important, somewhat important, or not very important?" The hypothetical results of the survey follow. Calculate the gamma coefficient. What does the value of gamma tell you about the relationship between social-class standing and attitudes toward college education?

Importance of College Social Class

Northeast Midwest South

Not important 13 12 6
Somewhat important 9 14 10
Very important 8 28 24

Exercise 16.4

The following hypothetical data show the daily alcohol consumption (in ounces) and the yearly job absenteeism rate (in days) of 12 workers. Determine the regression equation for predicting the number of workdays missed for an employee who consumes 12 ounces of alcohol daily.

Daily Alcohol Consumption Job Absenteeism
(in ounces)(in days)

0 2
1 3
1 3
2 2
2 3
3 4
4 5
4 6
5 5
6 6
6 7
7 5