American Society

American Values Assessment: Part Three (15% of course grade), to be completed during Weeks 5 and 6; due end of Week 6. 

 I. Personal Inventory and Comparison to Group Data 

Guidelines:  

(1)        Personal Inventory of Values: Write a list of the three to five personal values that hold most importance to you. 

(2)        Compare the list using Berkeley University's Survey Documentation and Analysis (SDA) data. 

(3) Present your analysis in a 2-3 page double spaced paper using the following organizational format:

1. Introduction: List your most important values with a brief description of why they are important.

2. Body/Analysis: Describe trends or changes in those issues you have chosen from the data. Be sure to include the most recent data , preferably 2014 data, in your report. See the section on "presenting the analysis" below for more specific instructions.

3. Compare your values to survey findings from the SDA data for issues/behavior/activities that are relevant to your values. In what ways are these findings from a national sample of Americans relevant to your values?

4. Summary: Present the highlights of your analysis or what you consider to be the major findings of your analysis.

Note: Remember from SOCY100 that a variable is the social issue, activity, belief that we as sociologists are studying. There are two categories of variables: Independent Variables or Dependent Variables.

• The Independent Variable changes or affects the value or level of a Dependent Variable.
• The Dependent Variable is affected or changed by the Independent Variable.

In this assignment, the Year that the survey data was collected is the Independent Variable. You will be comparing changes in survey responses for specific issues, activities, or beliefs from year to year.

II. To access Berkeley's SDA data sets": 

• Either click on the link below or cut and paste the url in your browser:

http://sda.berkeley.edu/sdaweb/analysis/?dataset=gss14

• This will bring you to the data access page. At the top of the left hand margin there is a section entitled: “Variable Selection”. 
• Next to the word “selected” type: Year. Click on Col (column) next to “Copy to:” The word Year will appear in the box for column.  You will always put Year in the column for all of the analysis with these data.

Example: you can choose other broad SDA topics listed like "workplace and economic concerns" or "controversial social issues", as well.

• Scroll down the variable list to societal concerns and click on ">" next to it, choose a concern listed such as confidence in institutions.
• Click on a specific institution such as business and finance.
• Go back up to  “Variable Selection" and click next to “row”. The title of the concern should appear in the window next to row.
• Click on  “Run the Table” at the bottom of the page.

A table should appear that provides percentages from 1972 – 2014 for survey responses to your chosen dependent variable.

*In crosstabulation tables the Independent variable always goes in the columns.  The dependent variable always goes in the rows. 

Please note! Navigating the variable sets, and using the survey data, will take time and practice. Please take time to familiarize yourself with the SDA site and to become more comfortable with the datasets. 

When navigating the data sets and using the survey data be sure to note the date of each percentage for your paper.  Your analysis should be written in complete sentences like any other narrative. Please take time to familiarize yourself with the SDA website and current data available in the data sets. Data that stops in the 1980’s and 1990’s is dated and is not current. Data that is 20 to 30 years old and not updated to the 21st century does not provide information on current social trends or social change.

III. Presenting your analysis (2-3 page double-spaced paper):

Analysis involves reporting percentages in the tables. You also need to provide the headings and sub-headings used in the database where you found the table relevant to your values.  Here is an example of the way to present your analysis:

"Under Controversial Issues (main survey heading); confidence in institutions (sub-heading-1) confidence in religious institutions (sub-heading -2).

Averaging percentages over the 41 years:

In 2014 only 5.5% of people have a great deal of confidence in congress as compared to an average of 9% since 1973. 

You can also take the highest percentage over the course of the data collection period (1972-2014) and the lowest reporting "a great deal of confidence: in congress.  You do not need to average the percentages.  But you must report the date for each percentage.  Find the responses to issues that make your point about your value(s) in reference to attitudes reported by a national sample of Americans.

Rubric for Part Three: