Hypothesis 1: Married individuals are more likely to support the than individuals who were never married. From the evidence this appears to be true. The data shows that 73. 2% of married individuals support the death penalty while only 59. 2% of those who were never married support the death penalty. However, when looking at other groups of single individuals such as those who have been widowed, divorcees, or separated respondents, the results are different.
These groups have 70. 1%, 70. 1%, and 77. 8% support for the death penalty respectively. The percentage of the first two are very close to the percentage of support for married individuals, while separated individuals have even more support for the death penalty than those who are currently married.
In conclusion, it appears from the evidence that currently married individuals are more likely to support the death penalty than individuals who were never married. Hypothesis 2: Individuals without children are more likely to support capital punishment than other groups. From the data, this hypothesis appears to be false. While 66. 4% of respondents without children favor the death penalty, 74.
8% of respondents with 2 children support the death penalty. However, other groups within this category have less support for capital punishment than individuals without children. Therefore the evidence appears to be inconclusive. Hypothesis 3: Individuals working full time are less likely to oppose the death penalty than all other groups. From the data, this appears to be true. 27% of respondents in this category (working full time) opposed the death penalty.
In contrast, 40% of individuals working part time opposed the death penalty as did 32. 1% of individuals temporarily not working, 30% of laid off individuals, 30. 7% of retirees, and 46. 3% in school. However, looking at the data it is also evident that the percentage of respondents in this category who opposed the death penalty is similar to the percentage of those who are either temporarily not working, have been laid off, or are retired. The only groups with significantly different percentages are those working part time and students.
I would survey a larger sample to obtain more accurate results. From the data given, however, it appears to be true that individuals working full time are less likely to oppose the death penalty than all other work-status related groups. Hypothesis 4: Men are more likely to support the death penalty than women. 74. 5 % of men favored the death penalty with only 25. 5% opposing it.
In contrast, only 65% of women supported the death penalty while 35% of women opposed it. From the data, it appears to be true that men are more likely to support the death penalty than woman because a higher percentage of men favored capital punishment. Looking at the data, it appears that gender has a non-spurious effect on attitudes toward the death penalty. When looking at the above categories, and comparing gender as a variable, it appears that it does not have an impact on attitudes toward the death penalty. For example, in looking at labor force status, this is very evident. While looking at the full time work force for instance, we can see that 75.
3% of men support the death penalty, while a similar 70. 2% of women support it. Part time workers are 60. 5 % likely to support the death penalty if they are male and 59. 4% likely if they are female.
Temporarily not working men are 70% likely to support the death penalty, while women in the same work status are 66. 7% likely to support the death penalty. This shows that gender has a non-spurious effect on attitudes toward the death penalty.