Assignment 3: Final Portfolio Project

Final Portfolio Project
Name of Student
Institution Affiliation
Final Portfolio Project
Introduction
The issue of gun permits has been a thorny issue for a long time. In a society that has both racial and cultural diversity, the question of racial preference on gun permits becomes fundamental in addressing other societal issues pegged on race. In the recent past, the US has experienced a series of public mass shootings with dozens of innocent civilians losing their lives. For example, it is estimated that at least 55,000 people lose their lives every year in the US as a result of gun-related injuries are recording the highest death rates associated with firearms as compared to other developed countries in Asia and Europe (Hamilton & Kposowa, 2015). It is, therefore, crucial to explore various factors that might influence the issue of gun control.
The right to bear arms in the US has become a common discussion and a controversial debate taking center stage as a result of increased media and public interest. Gun control advocates continue to push for stringent control measures such as thorough background tests, licensing gun owners and limiting gun sales to residents without a prior criminal history. On the other hand, the lobbyists of gun rights such as Nationals Rifle Association (NRA) continue to push for gun ownership and rights to bear arms giving more emphasis to professional training on gun ownership (Newman & Hartman, 2017). The discussion continues to arouse mixed reactions from American society with each group sticking to their choices.
Racial prejudice has been linked to different reactions to gun ownership policies. O’Brien, Forrest, Lynott, and Daly (2013), for instance, observe that Whites are more opposed to gun control policies which is a paradoxical attitude given the increased gun-related deaths across the country. Likewise, Filindra and Kaplan (2017) indicate in their research that preference for gun control among the whites is significantly influenced by racial resentment and related beliefs indicating the influence of racial prejudice on gun ownership policies. The diverse racial views, as well as differing income levels, constitutes the basics of this research as I investigate their influence on the preference to gun control policies.
This research project focuses on how race and income difference within the society influences the preference on gun permits. To investigate how race and income levels within the society affects preferences on gun control, I utilize the General Social Survey (GSS) data as the survey instrument. Specifically, I use the 2012 GSS data in this research. The data is downloaded from the GSS website- http://gss.norc.org/get-the-data/spss. The data is collected from voluntary participants in the US cutting across various societal issues.
All About GSS 2012 data :
* Participants and Data Collection
The GSS data is a survey project conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. The survey is conducted from volunteer US residents from all walks of life through face to face interviews at the University.
* Population sample
The GSS data collected from the volunteer US residents is a representation of adults. As a representation of the US population, the data collected seeks to investigate “changes in both social characteristics and attitudes” of the American households ("About the GSS | NORC", 2018).
Variables
Variables

Dependent variable

Independent variables

Variable name in SPSS

Gunlaws

race

rincome

Question

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?

What race do you consider yourself?

Did you earn any income from (Occupation Described In Occ-Industry) in [the previous year]? 
Yes …(ASK RINCOME) No ...[See REMARKS] 

Answer categories:

1 Favor
2 Oppose
8. Don’t know
9. No answer
0. Not applicable

1. White
2. Black
3. Other

1Less than $10002$1000 to 29993$3000 to 39994$4000 to 49995$5000 to 59996$6000 to 69997$7000 to 79998$8000 to 99999$10000 - 1499910$15000 - 1999911$20000 - 2499912$25000 or more13Refused98Don't know99No answer0Not applicable

Methodology and Data Description
To investigate the issue regarding the right to bear arms, I narrow down to one dependent variable - preference for gun control- favor or oppose (gunlaws) and two independent variables; respondent’s race (race) and the income of the respondent (rincome) from the GSS 2012 data.
Research Question(s)
* What is the relationship between a person’s race and their attitude towards gun permits (favor, oppose)?
* What is the relationship between a person’s income and their attitude towards gun permits (favor, oppose)?
The goal of this project is to investigate the influence of income and race on the preference of gun permits in the rights to bear firearms.
Hypothesis
Null hypothesis:
H0: The relationship between a person’s race and their attitude towards gun permits (favor, oppose) is not significant.
H0: The relationship between a person’s income and their attitude towards gun permits (favor, oppose) ) is not significant.
Alternate Hypothesis
H1: There is a significant relationship between a person’s race and their attitude towards gun permits (favor, oppose).
H1: There is a significant relationship between a person’s income and their attitude towards gun permits (favor, oppose).
Data Analysis and Results
The GSS 2012 data retrieved from http://gss.norc.org/get-the-data is exported to IBM SPSS Statistics 24 program for analysis. To investigate the influence of race and income towards preference on gun permits, various statistical tests are conducted and shown below:
Summary of the Research Participants
Summary Statistics Table


FAVOR OR OPPOSE GUN PERMITS

RACE OF RESPONDENT

RESPONDENTS INCOME

N

Valid

1283

1974

1142


Missing

691

0

832

Mean

1.26

1.35

10.13

Median

1.00

1.00

12.00

Mode

1

1

12

Std. Deviation

.441

.653

3.025

Variance

.195

.427

9.153





Descriptive Statistics: Charts
The chart below represents data statistics of the respondents involved in the survey regarding the independent variable gunlaws (favor or oppose gun permits). The data indicates a total of 1974 respondents involved in survey with 1283 responses being valid. 73.6 percent of all the respondents were in favor gun permits (944 responses) while 26.4 percent were opposed to gun permits (339 responses).
The chart above represents data statistics of the respondents involved in the survey regarding the dependent variable race (Race of the Respondent). The data indicates a total of 1974 respondents involved in the survey. 1477 respondents are white representing 74.8 % of the survey respondents. 301 respondents are black representing 15.2 % of the survey respondents while 196 respondents identified as other representing 9.9 % identified as other representing of the survey respondents.
The chart above represents data statistics of the respondents involved in the survey regarding the dependent variable rincome (Respondents income). $25,000 or More income range has 646 respondents representing 56.6% of the total valid data of 1142 respondents. $5000-5999 income range has only 20 respondents representing a mere 1.8% of the entire valid data.
Statistical Test:
Crosstabs
Favor Or Oppose Gun Permits * Race Of Respondent Crosstabulation


RACE OF RESPONDENT

Total


WHITE

BLACK

OTHER


Favor Or Oppose Gun Permits

Favor

Count

682

162

100

944



% within Race Of Respondent

71.0%

83.5%

77.5%

73.6%


Oppose

Count

278

32

29

339



% within Race Of Respondent

29.0%

16.5%

22.5%

26.4%

Total

Count

960

194

129

1283


% within Race Of Respondent

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

100.0%

The table above indicates that Blacks tend to favor gunlaws more at 83.5% preference rate as compared to other races with Whites at 71.0%, and other favouring gun permits at 77.5%. Likewise, respondents indentified as Other have a higher preference to gun permits than the White at 77.5% and 71.0% consecutively.
The above crosstabs table indicates that residents with an income range $7000 TO 7999 tend to favor gun permits more than their counterpart with an income range of $4000 TO 4999. Respondents with an income range of $7000 TO 7999 have the highest gun permits preference of 88.9% whereas respondents with an income range of $4000 TO 4999 have the least preference at 62.5%. The survey used an income range of less than $1000 to over $25000.
Favor Or Oppose Gun Permits * Respondents Income Crosstabulation


Respondents Income

Total


LT $1000

$1000 TO 2999

$3000 TO 3999

$4000 TO 4999

$5000 TO 5999

$6000 TO 6999

$7000 TO 7999

$8000 TO 9999

$10000 - 14999

$15000 - 19999

$20000 - 24999

$25000 OR MORE