ideology

POLITICAL IDEOLOGY QU E S T I O N N A I R E

Charles Grenier, S chool of Social Wo r k , Louisiana State Univers i t y

P u r p o s eThe first chapter of Social Wo rk, Social We l fa r e, and American Society, “Competing Pe r s p e c t i ves on Social We l fa r e,” d eve l o p sthe fundamental notion that in a part i c i p a t o ry democracy prevailing public attitudes, va l u e s, and beliefs shape and change thesocial we l fare system over time. Competing liberal and conserva t i ve forces affect social we l fare policy in all areas (pove rt y,health, mental health, child care, criminal justice, inequality, etc.) and at all levels of society. Each of the fo l l owing chapters inthe book contains a brief discussion of the competing ideological perspectives that bear on the va rious components of thesocial we l fare system in the United States.

This exercise is designed to help students better understand the concept of attitudes and beliefs, and their impact on thesocial we l fare system. S t u d e n t s ’p a rticipation in the survey helps them to:

• appreciate the range of attitudes and values among classmates • evaluate their personal attitudes and values relative to those of the class as a whole • see the connection between political party identification and specific attitudes, beliefs and va l u e s• see the relationship of specific attitudes, values and beliefs to socio-demographic chara c t e ristics such as

g e n d e r, religion, social class, age, and academic status.

Q u e s t i o n n a i r eThe fo l l owing questionnaire is designed to cover a wide va riety of current political issues and philosophical ideas, and to high-light their relationship to a set of relevant respondent back ground chara c t e ri s t i c s. The instrument can be modified freely. Fo rex a m p l e, you can put in different current issues and add other socio-demographic chara c t e ri s t i c s. Instead of using the politi-cal party ID va ri a ble (Republican- Democrat) item, you can use the actual names of candidates in a current national election,and substitute the question: “If the presidential election were being held today, which of the fo l l owing would you support :Candidate X or Candidate Y ? ”

Data Pro c e s s i n gIf possibl e, raw data could be computer processed for statistical analysis. O r, student volunteers can be used to hand score the data (frequencies, percentages, and means). Computer statistical programs have obvious adva n t a g e s, but for classdiscussion purposes manual calculations are adequate.

Class DiscussionIt is helpful to summari ze the findings on a blank questionnaire and make copies for students for class discussion. You candivide up the class (conserva t i ve s / l i b e rals) to take positions on selected items for class debate. S u rvey results from the issuessection that are relevant can be used for discussion purposes in connection with text chapters. For example class support fo ra “national health care system” and for Medicare and Medicaid can be revisited in connection with the chapter on health care.

Item Analy s i sIssues Section (For or Against, six point scale) Each item in this section can be summari zed as a frequency distri bution, percentage distri bution, dichotomy, or an ave ra g e.

F r e q u e n cy Distribution P r o - c h o i c e F O R 1 0 1 5 5 1 0 5 1 0 AG A I N S T

Pe rc e n t age Distribution P r o - c h o i c e F O R 1 8 % 2 7 % 9 % 1 8 % 9 % 1 8 % AG A I N S T

D i ch o t o myP r o - c h o i c e F O R 54% (18+27+9 = 54)

AG A I N S T 55% (18+9+18 = 55

Av e r age sAssume a six-point scale; if a respondent checks the 5th space on a given item, then score this answer as a five (5).

F O R X AGAINST

F O R 1 2 3 4 5 6 AGAINST

Sum the scores for the full sample on each item, and divide the sum by the number of respondents for each item.Pe r s p e c t i ves Section (Agr e e - D i s a gr e e, 10-point scale)

Since respondents write in the nu m e ric score on the 1-10 scale, the best way to summari ze the response patterns to thesequestions is to calculate the mean for each item (number of agrees divided by number of respondents for each item).Ave rages range from 1 to 10. H oweve r, for summary purp o s e s, it is convenient to dichotomize responses by collapsing 1through 5 as an AGREE and 6 through 10 as a DISAG R E E .

Correlations It is instru c t i ve to show students how the attitudinal items correlate with personal back ground data, such as political party ID,g e n d e r, social class, and age. For ex a m p l e, the Republicans (conserva t i ves) might have a different attitude about the “ p r o -c h o i c e ” position than Democrats (libera l s ) . S o rt the data in the Issues Section into two gr o u p s, according to party ID and atti-tude toward pro-choice.

F O R AGAINST R e p u bl i c a n s 3 0 % 70% D e m o c ra t s 6 0 % 40%

In this case, the Republicans are AGAINST pro-choice, and the Democrats are FOR pro-choice.

For questions in the Pe r s p e c t i ves Section, which are opera t i o n a l i zed on a 10-point scale, it is more convenient to use ave r-a g e s. Correlations with socio-demographic chara c t e ristics can be determined by comparing means across categori e s. I nquestion number 12, for example (If the rich continue to get richer and poor get poorer, I would support a revolution to correctthe inequality) ave rages for the three levels of self-perceived social class can be compared as fo l l ow s :

AV E R AGE IN FAVOR OF SUPPORTING A REVOLUTION, BY CLASS STATUS

C L A S S F R E QU E N C Y AV E R AGE Upper class 1 0 5.0 Middle class 4 0 15.0 L ower class 5 80.0

In this case, lower class students are significantly more likely to support a revolution than the middle and upper classes (4 outof 5 lower class students are ready to revo l t ) .

Another way to opera t i o n a l i ze social class is to use the fa t h e r ’s occupation data to sort the respondents into two gr o u p s :those who own their own bu s i n e s s, and those who do not (the Marxist dichotomy), and to compare ave rages for the twogr o u p s. For ex a m p l e :

AV E R AGE IN FAVOR OF SUPPORTING A REVOLUTION, BY CLASS STATUS

C L A S S F R E QU E N C Y AV E R AGE Business class 1 0 0.0 Wo rking class 4 5 20.0

In this case, members of the business class are ve ry much for the status quo, but a large number of the wo rking class want change.

A n o nymity Note that if you use age as a va ri a bl e, you will not be able to assure anony m i t y. The combination of age and sex may identifysome students. If anonymity is important, discard the age question.


Do not write your name or any other identifiers on this fo rm . Your answers will be kept confidential.The results will be used for class discussion purposes only.

ARE YOU FOR OR AGAINST THE FOLLOWING? Place a check mark on theF O R - O R - AGAINST scale to the right of each item:

1 . School praye r FOR ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ AG A I N S T

2 . Pro-choice (abort i o n ) FOR ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ AG A I N S T

3 . Cut we l fare progra m s FOR ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ AG A I N S T

4 . National health care system FOR ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ AG A I N S T

5 . S ex education - children FOR ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ AG A I N S T

6 . Gun control FOR ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ AG A I N S T

7 . Stronger labor unions FOR ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ AG A I N S T

8 . M e d i c a r e - M e d i c a i d FOR ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ AG A I N S T

9 . Condoms - elementary gra d e s FOR ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ AG A I N S T

1 0 . Food stamp progra m FOR ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ AG A I N S T

1 1 . S a m e - s ex marri a g e FOR ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ AG A I N S T

1 2 . M i n i mum wa g e s FOR ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ AG A I N S T

1 3 . Meals on wheels FOR ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ AG A I N S T

1 4 . Helping the homeless FOR ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ AG A I N S T

1 5 . Political correctness FOR ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ AG A I N S T

1 6 . Racial quotas, jobs FOR ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ AG A I N S T

1 7 . Racial quotas, schools FOR ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ AG A I N S T

1 8 . Death penalty for mu r d e r FOR ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ AG A I N S T

AGREE OR DISAGREE? How much do you agree or disagree with the fo l l owing statements? Enter a number from 1 to 10, where a 10 means strongly agr e e, and 1 means strongly disagr e e.W rite numbers in the space prov i d e d .

1 . _ _ _ _ It is better to keep things the way they are.

2 . _ _ _ _ People are essentially selfish; t h ey need to be controlled.

3 . _ _ _ _ Individuals have free will; t h ey are responsible for their own lives and probl e m s.

4 . _ _ _ _ The traditional family (married father and mother, children) must be preserved at all costs.

5 . _ _ _ _ G ove rnment regulations are needed to control monopolies.

6 . _ _ _ _ A free market economy (no business regulations) is the best way ensure prosperity and fulfillment of individual needs.

7 . _ _ _ _ Sometimes revolutions are necessary.

8 . _ _ _ _ This country would be better off if most gove rnment programs were eliminated.

9 . _ _ _ _ People are basically good but they can be corru p t e d .

1 0 . _ _ _ _ The free market economic system is basically ex p l o i t i ve and inherently unfair to wo rking people.

1 1 . _ _ _ _ Helping the poor encourages laziness.

1 2 . _ _ _ _ If the rich continue to get richer and the poor get poorer, I would support a violent revolution to correct the inequality.


Which political party do you like best? (CIRCLE ONE)

REPUBLICAN DEMOCRAT OTHER __________________________________

W hy? ____________________________________________________________________

YOUR AG E : ____

S E X : M F

ACADEMIC SEMESTER: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

R E L I G I O N :

C ATHOLIC PROT E S TANT OTHER _________________________

FATHER’S OCCUPATION _________________________________________________

M OTHER’S OCCUPATION ________________________________________________

Which social class category best describes your fa m i l y : (CIRCLE ONE):

L OWER CLASS MIDDLE CLASS UPPER CLASS

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