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EMPLOYMENT AS A DETERMINANT 0F
POLITICAL ACTIVITY AND IDEO'LOGY
OF MARRIED WOMEN

Thesis for the Degree of MA. .
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
DIANE ELLEN SEAGRFAVES
' . 1974' “

 

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ABSTRACT

EMPLOYMENT AS A DETERMINANT 0F POLITICAL ACTIVITY
AND IDEOLOGY 0F MARRIED WOMEN

BY

Diane Ellen Seagreaves

As increasing numbers of married women have entered
the labor force in the United States within the past decade.
the effects of this increased employment have been felt in
all aspects of the social order. including the political
sphere. This thesis examines some of the effects of
employment on the political activity and ideology of middle-
class. married women in Allentown, Pennsylvania at two
different points in time. 1970 and 1972.

Employment is viewed as an independent variable which
results in increased social contacts in the larger society.
These social contacts are conducive to increased political
awareness. interest. and involvement. From this perspec-
tive. the following hypotheses were formulated to act as
guidelines for the research conducted:

1. Among wives who are not employed outside of the
home. those wives who are socially active tend to be more

politically involved than wives who are not socially active.

Diane Ellen Seagreaves

2. Wives who are employed outside of the home tend to
be more politically involved than wives who do not hold
Jobs outside of the home.

3. Wives who are employed outside of the home tend to
have less conservative political attitudes than wives who
are not employed outside of the home.

h. The political attitudes of employed wives tend to
be more independent of the attitudes of their husbands than
do the political attitudes of non-employed wives.

The study samples were selected from six "middle-
class“ census tracts in Allentown by use of a random
sampling procedure. resulting in 113 respondents in 1970
and 100 respondents in 1972. The data obtained from inter-
views with the respondents in 1970 evidence support for
the above hypotheses; the data obtained in 1972. however.
does not evidence such support.

The discrepancies in these findings cannot be attrib-
uted to any one factor. but rather may be due to the effects
of several factors, including that of a possible inter—

vening variable. namely. social activity.

EMPLOYMENT AS A DETERMINANT 0F POLITICAL ACTIVITY
AND IDEOLOGY OF MARRIED WOMEN

BY

Diane Ellen Seagreaves

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Department of Sociology

19?“

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My sincere thanks and gratitude to the chairman
of my committee. and advisor, Dr. Harry Schwarzweller.
Without his guidance and patient toleration throughout
the past year. this thesis would not have been completed.

I would also like to extend my appreciation to my
committee members, Rick Hill and Barrie Thorne. who
approved this thesis, allowing me to continue onward
to loftier pursuits.

And special notes of thanks to Tom Lyson, who acted
as my computer consultant, and to Phil Fulton, who acted
as a dispenser of helpful hints during the last stages of

thesis preparation.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES O 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O C v

INTRODUCTION 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O C C O 1
The Political Role of Women in the United States 3

The Relationship of Social Activity to Political
Aetivity O I O O O O O O O O O O O 0 O O O O 5

The Effects of Employment on Political Activity . 10

The Effects of Social and Political Activity and
Employment on Political Ideology . . . . . . 13

Specification of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . 16
IRESEARCH PROCEDURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
The Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
The Study Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Sampling Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
The Interview Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
The Interview Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . 3h
Measurement Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Procedures for Analysis of Data . . . . . . . , , E6
FINDINGS: LEVELS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ACTIVITY . . #9

Effects of Employment on Social Activity Rates of
Married Women e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e I4'9

Responses to the Components of the Political
ACt1V1ty Index e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 54

Comparison of Political Activity Rates of Non-
Employed and Employed Wives . . . . . . . . 59

Toward an Explanation of Discrepancies . . . . . 65

iii

iv
Page
FINDINGS: THE IDEOLOGICAL SPECTRUM . . . . . . . . . 68

Measurement of the Liberalism-Conservatism
Palarity O O 0 O O O O O O 0 O O O O I O O O 69

Employment Status and Ideological Perspectives. . 73

Employment Status and Agreement With Husband's
Ideological Perspective. . . . . . . . . . . 81

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH. . e . 89
Summary of Study Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Reconsideration of the Research Methods . . . . . 92
Suggestions for Future Research . . . . . . . . . 96

FOOTNOTES. . . e . . . . . . . . . e . e . . . . . . . 100

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

APPENDICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

TABLE
1.

2.

3.

5.

6.

7.

8.

LIST OF TABLES

Summary of Interview Contacts Made During
Collection of Data Process in Allentown,
Pennsylvania in 1970 and 1972 . . . . . . .

Percentage Distributions of Type and Level
of Social Activity of Middle-Class Wives in
Allentown, Pennsylvania, By Year and Employ-
ment Status 0 e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 0

Percentage Distributions of Type and Level of
Political Activity of Middle-Class Wives in
Allentown. Pennsylvania, By Year and Employ-
ment Status 0 e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 0

Correlation Coefficients of Five Items of Free
and Cantril's Idelogical Spectrum, According
to Agreement Responses of Middle-Class Wives
in Allentown. Pennsylvania in 1970 and 1972

Percentage Distributions of Agreement Responses
of Middle-Class Wives in Allentown. Pennsylvania
to Five Items of Free and Cantril's Ideological
Spectrum, By Year e e e e e e e e e e e e e e 0

Percentage Distributions of Agreement Responses
of Middle-Class Wives in Allentown, Pennsylvania
in 1970 and 1972 to Five Items of Free and Can-
tril's Ideological Spectrum,.By Employment Status

Percentage Distributions of Agreement Responses
of Non-Employed and Employed Middle-Class Wives

in Allentown. Pennsylvania to Five Items of

Free and Cantril's Ideological Spectrum, By Year

Percentage Distributions of Agreement Responses

Page

31

51

60

72

75

77

78

of Middle-Class Wives and Their Husbands in Allen-

town, Pennsylvania to Five Items of Free and

Cantril's Ideological Spectrum, By Year . . . .

Percentage Distributions of Congruence Between

Agreement Responses of Non-Employed and Employed

82

Middle-Class Wives and Their Husbands in Allentown.

Pennsylvania to Five Items of Free and Cantril's
IdBOIOgical SpOCtPUM. By Year a e e e e e e e e

84

INTRODUCTION

In August of 1920 the 19th Amendment gave American
women the right to vote. Three months later, one—third of
the eligible female voters went to the polls to exercise
their newly won right. By the presidential election of 1972,
sixty percent of the female electorate voted and, more sig-
nificantly. female voters numerically surpassed male voters
by eight million.

These facts may not, however, dispel the notion that
politics, once defined as strictly the male's domain. has be-
come the shared concern of both sexes. From the point of
view of contemporary attitudes. this notion appears to be
true. According to a 1971 Harris poll, whose national sample
consisted of both men and women, sixty percent of the female
respondents felt that women should become more involved in
the political arena.1

Sixty-three percent of the total sample, male and female
respondents, however, replied that men are more suited
emotionally for politics than are women. This leads to the
fact that, behaviorally. women do not appear to be becoming
more involved in the political Sphere, although the total
picture is not clear. Only seventeen percent of the above

female respondents claimed to be politically active. Women

may voice a concern for the need to become politically in-
volved. but they do not appear to follow through with action
to that extent.

This increased concern about political involvement has
been occurring during a time when married women have been
entering. or re-entering, the labor force in greater numbers
than ever before. Well over one-third of all married women
in the United States, and almost one-half of all mothers, are
now employed in jobs outside of the home. Has this increased
involvement in the world of work outside of the home affected
involvement in the sphere of politics?

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate this question,
i. e. the effects of employment on participation in politically-
oriented activities and on the political attitudes of married
women. Also to be explored is the effect of employment of
the wife on the political agreement of the spouses.

This investigation takes place in Allentown. Pennsyl-
vania at two different points in time. A study was first con-
ducted during the early winter months of 1970. prior to a
gubernatorial election, and was then replicated in the summer
of 1972, prior to a presidential election and during the
Republican and Democratic party conventions. The replication
was undertaken to determine if there was any change in the
political activity rates or attitudinal responses of non-

employed and employed wives over the two year period.

The Political Role of Women in the United States

The political science literature that deals with polit-
ical participation tends to ignore women, except to stress
that females are much less politically involved than men,
voting less and taking an indifferent view of politics as a
whole.2 A second point often emphasized is that, in the past,
there has been an "anti-feminist" attitude toward women hold-
ing political office in the United States, and toward women
being involved in politics at all.

The political role of women, and their participation in
political life, cannot be separated from societal norms con-
cerning the role of women generally. According to Parsons,
American women tend to be oriented toward emotional-expressive
behavior, while men tend to be oriented toward instrumental
behavior. Woman's role, having been centered in the home and
with the family, has tended to be a passive one. The male
role, being largely identified with the male's occupation
and career, has tended to be an active and competitive one.

An American cultural tradition is expressed by the adage
"A woman's place is in the home." According to this view,
the "outside world", including the sphere of politics, be-
longs to men. It is inappropriate for women to be involved
in the sphere of politics which provides the nation's
governmental leaders.

Women tend to see themselves as having an apolitical

role in society. This role interpretation is due, in part,

to the way that women see themselves reflected in the mass
media and, in part, to the stereotyped role of women as
housewives and mothers.

Cultural patterns in this country did not create an
image in which any self-respecting woman would even con-
sider becoming a politician, nor did these patterns advo-
cate that women be given educational opportunities which
would expose them to issues and ways of thinking necessary
for political involvement in general. As Robert Lane ex-
plains in his book Political Life,

. . . the culture emphasizes moral, dependent, and

politically less competent images of women which

reduce their partisanship and sense of political
effectiveness and define a less active political

role for them.

In their voting study, The People's Choice, Lazarsfeld,
Berelson, and Gaudet found that if women are not interested
in political issues, they feel no compulsion to vote.” Men,
however, are under more social pressure and tend to vote
even if they are not interested in the candidates or the
issues. Not only do many women feel no obligation to vote,
but some of them consider their apathy a virtue. These
women remark:

'I don't care to vote. Voting is for the men.‘

'I think men should do the voting and the women
should stay home and take care of their work.’

'I have never voted. I never will. . . . A woman's
place is in the home. . . . Leave politics to the

men.!

These statements exemplify why some women do not vote.
As mentioned earlier, however, the majority of women eligi-
ble to vote do go to the polls. An insightful question to
ask is why women do not vote, besides the fact that they view
political involvement as inappropriate for women. This leads
to a second question: why do some women become politically

involved while other women do not?
The Relationshipgof Social Activity to Political Activity

In his book Political Man, Lipset discusses various
social factors which affect rates of voting turnout. These
factors include access to information (which is determined
by the individual's amount of contact, communication, and
leisure time) and group pressure to vote (which is affected
by the individual's extent of social contacts and the pres-
sure of group norms opposing voting).6

If the individual has access to political information
through communication in social contacts, if he has a sub-
stantial amount of leisure available to obtain this informa—
tion, and if he feels group pressure to vote, then he will
be likely to vote.

This issue is also discussed by Katz and Lazarsfeld.
They list several factors which they feel are most likely to
be related to female voting turnout and participation in pub-
lic affairs. These factors include:

1. education - women with higher educational back-

grounds are more likely to become politically involved.

 

2. social climate —- women who experience motivated
interaction with other people who are politically interested
and active (or with people whom Merton calls opinion leaders),
are more likely to become politically interested and active
themselves.

3. leisure - women who have time available to them for
the pursuit of interests and activities outside of the home
are more likely to become politically involved.7

From these factors, especially those of social climate

urn-fl

and leisure, it is apparent that an individual's political
interest and involvement is dependent on his interaction with
other people, particularly other people who are politically
interested and involved. This includes Lipset's factor of
group pressure.

Robert Lane remarks that political attitudes and behav-
ior are learned from associates, friends, co-workers, and
the fellow members of organizations to which a person belongs.
He claims that social isolation tends to make a person polit-
ically apathetic.8 If a person is socially isolated, he has
less access to political information and has less opportuni-
ties to meet politically knowledgeable and involved peeple.
Such a social isolate also feels no pressure from associates,
friends, co-workers, or fellow members of organizations to
discuss public affairs, to vote, or to be otherwise politi-
cally involved.

If isolation tends to make an individual politically

apathetic, then increased contact with people outside of

the home should make an individual more politically aware,
interested, and perhaps even more politically involved.
One such type of contact with people outside of the home
occurs in voluntary social organizations.

Various studies dealing with voting, with political
participation in general, and with social activity mention
that social or organizational involvement is related to
political involvement.9

There is mounting evidence that participation

in voluntary associations enhances the liklihood of

voting and actively participating in the polity. . . .

Membership is typically seen as bringing individuals

into contact with those who are already active, espec-

ially persons who join instrumental groups. Associa-

tion with others is a catalyst for involvement.10
Voluntary organizations function as interest groups. When
an individual becomes affiliated with a voluntary organiza-
tion, he can be presumed to be seeking to protect and aug-
ment his own interests.

Over two hundred years ago Alexis de Tocqueville des-
cribed the voluntary organization in the United States as
an organizer of peOple with common interests. Through these
organizations agroup of people is made aware of its common
interests and a unified opinion or attitude emerges. Volun-
tary organizations also facilitate the diffusion of opinions
among a population. Indeed, de Tocqueville concluded that
voluntary organizations serve as a means for involving the

individual in the social and political processes of society

as a whole. He notes that

 

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In all the countries where political associa-
tions are prohibited, civil associations are rare.
The inference should be that there is a natural, and
perhaps a necessary, connection between these two
kinds of associations. Certain men happen to have a
common interest in some concern . . . 3 they meet,
they combine, and thus by degrees they become familiar
with the principle of association. The greater is
the multiplicity of small affairs, the more do men . . .
acquire facility in prosecuting great undertakings in
common. Civil associations, therefore, facilitate
political associations.11

That social participation is positively correlated with

political participation is a view which is also advanced by

t.

Herbert Maccoby. Dr. Maccoby conducted a study which ex-
plores the thesis that voluntary associations (clubs or formal
groups) act as stimuli which rouse their participants to
greater involvement in the general political life of the
society. In his study of the Warren County-Front Royal Recre-
ation Association, Inc. in Virginia, Maccoby finds that the
membership had been recruited from other organizations; thus,
one would regard the members of the Recreation Association as
being socially active, irrespective of their participation in
that particular organization. He also finds that these mem-
bers are more likely to be voters, more likely to remain
voters, and more likely to become voters if they had been
non-voters, than people who are not members of the Associa-
tion; that is, members are more likely than non-members to
be politically involved, at least to some degree.12
A major factor contributing to this increased political

activity by members of voluntary organizations appears to be

the influence of people whom Merton labels opinion leaders.

 

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Lipset describes such opinion leaders as individuals whose
greater knowledge, interest, and personality make them in-
fluential among their friends and acquaintances. These
leaders are found among the better-educated and higher in-
come groups and they tend to be active in associations and
organizations of all kinds.13

The authors of The PeopleLs Choice conclude that con-
tact with an opinion leader appears to be more important than
exposure to formal propaganda in affecting political behavior,
activity, and attitudes.14 Members of voluntary organizations
generally speaking, would be more likely than non-members to
come into meaningful contact with an opinion leader who acts
as a positive influence in stimulating political interest
and involvement.

As noted earlier, Katz and Lazarsfeld conclude that social
climate, i.e. contact with politically knowledgeable and
active people, is a major factor in feminine participation.
One avenue for coming into contact with these people, of
course, is through voluntary organizations. Socially active
women. therefore, would tend to be more active politically
than socially non-active women.

Underlying this supposition is the notion that isola-
tion breeds political apathy and, therefore, exposure to
people in social organizations outside of the home facili-

tates political interest and involvement. In his book
Political Life, Lane states that

UC-

10

. . . evidently a life of work outside of the home,
with its responsibilities, social contacts, and train-
ing in the relevance of political 'abstractions' en-
hances the individual's interest in public policy.1
Lane also mentions that a further analysis of Scott's Ben-
nington study shows that those peeple who were less polit-
ically involved were more likely to be oriented toward the

home 0 16

The Effects of Employment on Political Activity

Myrdal and Klein, in their study, Women's Two Roles:
Home and Work, conclude that

. . . housewives suffer from social isolation . . . .

Their work does not naturally lead to social contacts

as do other occupations. . . . Moreover, the house-

wife particularly has been the victim of the middle-
class ideology of privacy . . . which has made 'keep-
ing oneself to oneself‘ one of the essential virtues

in the accepted code of middle-class and lower middle-

class proprieties.

This reinforces the idea that having some type of contact
and involvement with peeple outside of the home, such as
with fellow members of organizations, friends, or co-workers
leads to increased social and political awareness and in-
vovlvement.

There are other means besides organizational involvement,
however, which bring the individual into contact with people
in settings outside of the home and one of these means is
employment (having a job outside of the home, for which the
individual receives a salary). Berelson, Lazarsfeld, and

McPhee note that the people with whom a person works may

m m N
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and

11

not be a direct influence on the individual, but they may
serve as

. . . contact points through which the individual is

connected to whole networks of social relations that

affect political behavior.18
The place of employment, like the voluntary organization,
is a setting where the individual may encounter an opinion
leader or where group pressure to be politically aware and/or
involved may be exerted on the individual.

Being socially active (in formalized associations such
as clubs) and being employed outside of the home both, there-
fore, increase possible social contacts which tend to enhance
or reinforce political awareness and participation. Even
though a non-employed wife may have more leisure time avail-
able to be politically active, nevertheless, unless she is
socially active, she will tend not to have as many contacts
outside of the home as a wife who is employed.19

In connection with this idea, Nye and HoffMan, in The
Employed Mother in America, find that

Contrary to common sense expectations younger
employed mothers (those with children of school age)
belong to as many organizations as mothers who are not
employed . . . . No evidence supports the assumption
that employment results in the curtailment of attend-
ance at meetings of organizations to which the mothers
belong.

Obviously, these findings cannot be automatically applied to
the entire female population of this country. But it is
conceivable that, if mothers with young, school-age children

and with jobs outside of the home are able to participate in

12

voluntary organizations, then other wives who are employed,
but who have no school-age children, would also be able to
be involved in voluntary organizations.

In a way, this supposition lessens the effect of leisure
time as a factor influencing feminine interest and participa-
tion in public affairs. Katz and Lazarsfeld's other two
factors, education and social climate, may determine, to a
greater extent, whether or not a married woman will become
politically aware and involved. Even if she has a full-time
job and has a husband, children, and housework to look after,
leaving her only a small amount of leisure time, if she is
motivated due to her educational attainment and the social
climate in which she finds herself, the busy employed wife
will find the time necessary to keep herself aware of polit-
ical events and to take part in politically-oriented activi-
ties.

The following hypothesis appears to summarize the prin-
ciple that emerges from the various findings reported above:
social isolation tends to result in political disinterest.

As this isolation is broken down, however, by becoming active
in social organizations outside of the home and/or by enter-
ing the labor force, the individual's sense of political
awareness is heightened. And once this awareness has been
increased, it becomes more possible for a sense of participa-
tion.to develop, resulting in some form of political action,
even if it is only an elementary action such as voting.

To recapitulate, involvement in formal social associa-

 

up” RI:
1 . A b

13

tions and employment outside of the home tend to produce a
positive social climate which may result in political aware-
ness, interest, and involvement. A positive social climate,
by definition, is one in which the individual has opportuni-
ties to come into contact with politically informed and

active people, including Opinion leaders.

The Effects of Social and Political Activity and Employment
0n Political Ideology

In addition to their tendency to be political "abstainers"
in comparison with men, women also tend to be more politically
conservative than men.21 This statement depends, of course,
on one‘s definition of conservatism. The definition which
is used most frequently is: a favorable attitude toward the
retention of the status quo.

Lipset theorizes that this ideological difference be-
tween the sexes may result from a variation in life exper-
iences. Since they tend to have more contacts outside the
home, in their work and in their leisure activities, married
[men are more exposed to the dominant Opinions of their social
class than are their wives, who tend to Spend most of their
time in the home.

Women, especially housewives, are less involved

in the intra-class communications structure, see fewer

politically knowledgeable people with backgrounds and

interests similar to their own, and are therefore more

likely to retain the dominant conservative values of
the larger culture.22

1.4

III.

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IN

This statement makes several assumptions. The first
is that the majority of the population of this country is
politically conservative. The second assumption is that
individuals who are involved in the intra-class communica-
tions structure and who come into contact with "politically
knowledgeable people with backgrounds and interests similar
to their own" tend to shed their conservative ideology and
develop more liberal leanings. The third assumption is that
women, particularly housewives, do not tend to fall into the
category of people described in the second assumption.

The first assumption is regarded as being true —- it
has been supported by past research.23 The third assumption
is accepted, but only in part -— the part that states that
a large majority of housewives fit into this category. The
second assumption is accepted. Married women who have more
interests and/or social contacts outside of the home would
tend to be less conservative politically than wives who are
strict "homebodies".

This second assumption follows from the discussion in
the second section above. Once the wife begins to leave the
household setting, to participate in voluntary social activ-
ities or to become a member of the labor force, she increases
her opportunities to become involved in the class structure
mentioned by Lipset and to meet and be influenced by people
with backgrounds similar to her own but with different
political attitudes.

If social activity and employment affect the wife's

 

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has

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15

ideological views, do they also affect the degree to which
her views are similar to those of her husband? Eldersveld,
et al, in their survey of political behavior research, con-
clude that ”women adjust to their husband's political orien-
tation to the degree that there is strong cohesion and male
dominance."24

Wives are generally aware of the political opinions of
their husbands, but few husbands tend to be aware of the
views of their wives.

The Princeton class of '62 was polled 10 years
after graduation. A similar poll was sent to the
graduates' wives. 'Politically, the Princeton man is
a liberal Republican,' the study concluded, 'and will
accordingly vote for Nixon in the '72 primary.‘ The
wives, on the other hand . . . favor Muskie over Nixon
almost two to one. The men, however, appeared to be
ignorant of their wives' disagreement and when asked
if their wives shared their political views, a full
88 percent of the men answered, 'Yes.’25

Men tend to tell their wives about politics rather than dis-
cuss politics with them. Campbell, et a1, express this
view in The American Voter.

The wife who votes but otherwise pays little
attention to politics tends to leave not only the
sifting of information up to her husband but abides
by his ultimagg decision about the direction of the
vote as well.

In a study of the League of Women Voters, James March
finds that women who have higher degrees of political in-
volvement rely less on their husband's political advice than
do women who are less politically involved or active.27 It
has been stated that wives who are politically involved have

znore contacts in the outside world (outside of the home,

16

that is). This also tends to be true of women who are
socially active and/or employed outside the home.

Scammon and Wattenberg state that if women vote the
same way as their husbands, it is because both spouses have
the same interests and, because of this, agree on candidates.
If they have the same interests and agree on candidates, they
would also tend to have similar political ideological views
or attitudes. This tendency should decline, however, as the
wife increases her contacts in the "outside world".

Wives who spend more time outside of the home would
have more opportunities to meet people whose political views
and attitudes differ from their own and perhaps from those
of their husband. “These wives would be more likely to adopt
political attitudes different from those of their husbands.

Specification of the Problem

Previous studies show that there is a positive relation-
ship between social and political involvement. Social in-
volvement precedes and perhaps even causes political involve-
ment. Wives who are politically active tend also to be soc-
ially active. Conversely, socially active wives are more
likely to be politically active than wives who are not soc-
ially active.

It appears clear that involvement in social activities
decreases a wife's isolation in the home and brings her into
contact with politically knowledgeable people. This in-

creases the possibility that she will become more politically

 

1:.

Cali

a:

CI

17

aware and involved and, thereby, increases the possibility
that she will develop political attitudes that differ from
those of her husband. Being a member of the labor force,
of course, also decreases a wife's isolation in the home
and gives her more opportunities to meet politically know-
ledgeable people. This implies that employment also in-
creases the possibility that a wife will become more polit-
ically aware and involved and that she will develop politi-
cal attitudes that differ from those of her husband.

Social involvement and employment outside of the home
are both factors which lessen social isolation by increasing
the individual's social contacts. This, in turn, increases
the individual's exposure to views different from his own.
Do differences exist, therefore, in the degree of political
involvement and in the political attitudes of employed and
non-employed wives and of socially active and socially non-
active wives?

This is a question which this thesis attempts to explore.
The following guiding hypotheses serve to organize the in-
quiry:

1. Among wives who are not employed outside of the home,
those wives who are socially active tend to be more politi-
cally involved than wives who are not socially active.

2. Wives who are employed outside of the home tend to
be more politically involved than wives who do not hold

jobs outside of the home.

have

T9

beI

do'

18

3. Wives who are employed outside of the home tend to
have less conservative political attitudes than wives who
are not employed outside of the home.

A. The political attitudes of employed wives tend to
be more independent of the attitudes of their husbands than
do the political attitudes of non-employed wives.

Operational definitions of the terms "social activity",
"political activity", and“political conservatism" will be
set forth in the following chapter. As mentioned previously,
this study is longitudinal. Data on the social and political
involvement and the political attitudes of married women were
collected at two different points in time in the same commun-
ity, utilizing a similar sampling procedure that yielded
samples with basically the same characteristics. Such a
longitudinal approach is useful in studying attitudes to
determine whether or not, and to what extent, attitudes and
generalizations derived from attitudinal research are stable
over time. It is necessary, of course, to take into account
any changes in the socio-political climate of the society
and the socio-economic circumstances of the local community
that have occurred during these two points in time in order
to assess the meaning of observed variations in attitudinal

patterns.

Ir!

ed

Cf

RESEARCH PROCEDURES

This chapter will describe and explain the various
research procedures utilized to examine the effects of
employment status on the political involvements and ideolog-
ical attitudes of married women. These procedures include:
a description of the research setting: characteristics of
the study population: sampling procedures: measurement pro-

cedures: and the analytic strategy.

The Setting

The research for this study was conducted in Allentown,
a city with a population of 109,000 according to the 1972
United States Census, located approximately sixty miles
northwest of Philadelphia, in the eastern part of Pennsylvania.
Allentown is the largest city in the Lehigh Valley, which is
a highly industrialized area with concentrations of both
heavy and light industry and manufacturing. The city boasts
a Mack Truck plant, a Western Electric plant, the Lehigh
Structural Steel plant, and numerous textile factories and
small businesses. The Lehigh Valley is well-known for its
productive dairy farms and orchards.

Allentown was chosen as the site for this study because

of its proximity and familiarity to the researcher. Being

19

o H,
Alh'

20

a city of medium size, it has a fairly representative pap-
ulation, encompassing all age, sex, and social class groups.
Like most other ”typical” American cities of its size, Allen-
town's population consists of a range of social classes,

from the very poor, a large segment of working-class families,
to a small segment of upper-class residents. In Allentown,
perhaps more so than in other American cities, members of
each class are concentrated in various neighborhoods, from
the working-class First and Sixth Wards to the upper-class
Lehigh Parkway West.

In general, working-class housing is found mainly within
the large area surrounding the center of the city, middle-
class housing is found further away from the downtown area,
but within the peripheral areas of the city, and the upper-
class housing can be found along the edges of the city where
there is more land available for sprawling estates.

Allentown is an example of Banfield's theory about
social class and physical space of housing patterns.28 Ban-
field proposes that lower class housing is crowded, in close
proximity to each other. Houses in and around downtown
.Allentown are mostly row homes which are right next to one
another, wall-to-wall. According to Banfield, middle-class
housing occupies more space and tends to be divided from one
another by small strips of land. Houses further away from
<iowntown Allentown tend to be twin homes (two houses wall-

to-wall, with each house having some open space on one of its

21

sides) or single homes. Upper-class housing occupies a
large amount of space on the outskirts of the city and these
houses are often separated from one another by fences or
walls.

For anyone familiar with the physical patterns in
Allentown, it is not difficult to identify various areas
of the city that are predominantly working-class, middle-
class, or uppereclass. These areas are generally distin-

guished by housing type.
The Study Population

Previous studies have shown that various characteris-
tics are associated with involvement in social and political
activities and organizations. People who possess these charac-
teristics tend to be more socially and/or politically active
than people who do not.29 By limiting the study pOpulation
to individuals with these specific characteristics, the
possibility was reduced that the resultant data are influenced
too greatly by a large number of respondents who have either
very low or very high levels of social or political involve-
ment. The characteristics by which the study population was
delimited are listed below, along with a brief explanation
of the relevant rationale for using each of the delimitations.
figs

An age limitation was placed on the study population

because, as Hausknecht suggests in The Joiners, there is a

 

22

tendency for an individual to become a "joiner" (socially
active) as he approaches middle-age, but then he tends to
drop out of these activities and groups when he approaches
"old age". Joan Moore applies this directly to women by
stating that

. . . age patterns of women's participation in assoc-

iations parallel their participation in the labor

force with low points in the late twenties and early

thirties and a sharp rise in the late thirties.

Lipset discusses age as a variable affecting voting
patterns. He lists middle-aged people (ages thirty-five
to fifty-five) as having a higher voting rate than young
people (under thirty-five).31 Lipset explains that this
results partly from the fact that younger people have not
yet become fully integrated into the organized social life
of the adult community and, therefore, they do not feel
the social pressures and inner feelings of social obliga-
tion to vote which contact with dominant social groups places
on the individual.32

According to Lipset, older people are also affected by
this lack of integration. They become less involved in the
social life of the community, losing their social contacts
because of retirement, sickness or infirmity, or the death
of friends and associates.

Age boundaries of thirty-five and sixty—five were
placed on the study population to ensure the inclusion of
those women who were most likely to be politically and

socially active.

9-" .

23

Race

 

Hausknecht also observes that there tends to be little
difference in associational membership according to race.
Lane concurs with this statement by mentioning that there
are no outstanding differences in rates of social involve-
ment among racial groups. Other studies, however, have
found that blacks have a significantly higher rate of social
participation than do whites.33

Williams, g§_gl, state that blacks probably have such
a high rate of membership in social organizations because
of their exclusion from many other societal forms of partic-
ipation.

Although acculturated, Blacks were probably led

by such factors.as high visibility, subordinate status,

and overt discrimination to fall back on each other

and organize into groups to maintain their dignity and

achieve personal fulfillment.

In the past, blacks have been blocked from full participation
in white-dominated societal activities, such as voting,
holding a political office, and other forms of political
involvement. This led them to form their own groups and
associations, often church-centered, to fill this gap.

Blacks are excluded from the study population because
of low participation in one type of activity and high par-
ticipation in another type of activity. First. blacks tend
to have low participation rates in politically-oriented

activities, as mentioned above. Secondly, black women have

very high rates of participation in socially-oriented activ-

2h

ities. Williams, gt_gl, reveal that in twelve categories
of different types of associations, black women have higher
percentages of membership than do white women, in ten of
the twelve categories. In nine of these ten categories,
the differences in percentages are more than twice as much.
Because of this possible discrepancy between social and
political involvement, it was decided to exclude blacks
from the study population.
§Qcial Clagg

Education, income, and occupation, the three most com-
monly used components of social class, vary positively with
social and political participation -— as each of the three
components increases, so do the individual's rate of social
and political participation. This pattern is confirmed by
most of the literature surveyed.3S

As for differing degrees of organizational involve-
ment among the classes, Dotson concludes that the majority
of working-class or lower-class people do not participate
in formally organized voluntary associations.36 This does
not mean, however, that these people are not socially active.
What it does mean is that many working-class peOple, espec-
ially women, are involved in informal social activities,
such as neighboring and visiting relatives, rather than in
more formal social activities, such as belonging to clubs.37

Working- or lower-class groups vote less than other

social class groups. Lane states that

25

The lesser degree of political participation

and interest in lower status groups is partly

accountable by the following factors: (1) Lower

strata women (but not men) have less leisure avail-
able for political activity. (2) Lower status per-
sons have less economic security, and, partly for

that reason, feel less of a senge of control over

their (political) environment.3
Lipset reasons that lower-class individuals are often fully
occupied by trying to survive from day to day and do not
have the time or energy necessary to be politically aware
or involved.

William Erbe finds that the higher a person's social
status, the more likely he is to register, to vote, to be
interested in politics, to belong to politically relevant
organizations, and to attempt to influence the political
views of others (all of these factors result in the in-
dividual being politically active).39

In many studies political and social activity partic-
ipation figures of upper-class individuals are not distin-
guishable from those of middle-class individuals, especially
when income is used as a criterion. For example, the upper
income category in Hausknecht's table entitled ”Membership
in Voluntary Associations By Income” is $7,000*, which in-
cludes both middle- and upper-class individuals. This
creates difficulties in determining whether or not there
are significant differences in participation rates of
middle- and upper-class individuals. It was decided, there-

fore, to focus this study on middle-class individuals, using

26

income, education, and occupation as determining factors
of social class.
Nativity

Few studies of social and/pr political involvement
use nativity as a direct social factor affecting the in-
dividual's participation in social and political activities.
It may be reasonably assumed, however, that a person not
born or reared in the United States might have a different
attitude about the desirability of participation in such
activities than would a native-born American.

In this country, social and political participation
tend to be viewed as effective means of involving the in-
dividual in the social and political processes of society
as a whole and, also, as effective instruments through
which the demands and interests of the citizens may be made
known to those who govern. This feeling is not shared by
the citizens of many other countries, especially those in
which the formation of social and political associations
has not deve10ped. For example, in France voluntary assoc-
iations and political parties are weak and not well-organized,
so that social and political activity is not widespread. In
addition, many Frenchmen have a low opinion of political
activity because they consider it ineffective and unproduc-
tivef‘o Because of these reasons, it was decided to elim-

inate foreign-born wives from the study population.

 

27

Home Ownership

According to Hausknecht's study, people who own their
homes are more likely to belong to voluntary associations
than people who rent. Renters also tend to be more mobile
than owners, therefore, they have less opportunities to
become socially and politically involved. Homeownership
links an individual rather directly into the general society.
Since he almost automatically has a major economic interest
in the area because of his house, the homeowner feels that
he has a stake in his neighborhood and the wider community,
and that he can protect his interests by becoming involved
in community activities.‘“1

Social and political happenings in the community affect
the economic climate, including property taxes, zoning laws,
and property values, all of which are a direct concern to
homeowners. These individuals can exercise some control
over the socio-economic structure of the community by join-
ing social and political organizations through which they

may voice their concerns and opinions. It was decided,

therefore, to limit the study population to homeowners.

Questions were asked during the initial phase of the
interview to ascertain the wife's age, educational back-
ground, nativity, homeownership, and social class. Race
was determined by observation so as not to jeopardize rapport.

Marital status and whether or not the spouses were living

 

28

together at the time of the interview was determined by
use of an ”opening line” question framed as a request by
the interviewer to gain permission for the interview.“2
The variables listed and described above were con-
trolled, therefore, by design. The study population, then,
is composed of married women who were
1. living with their husband at the time of the interview
2. between the ages of thirty-four and sixty-six
3. white
4. middle-class
5. at least high school graduates
6. native-born American citizens
7. homeowners.
The sample from the 1970 study consists of 113 wives and
their husbands and the 1972 sample consists of 100 wives

and their husbands. The total sample, therefore, numbers

213 wives and their husbands.

Sampling Procedure

Since it was decided to focus on middle-class families
for this study, it appeared appropriate (and practical) to
derive a sample from middle-class neighborhoods in Allen-
town. A census tract map of the city was obtained (a 1960
map was used for the 1970 study and a 1970 map was used
for the 1972 study -— the latter map had just become avail-
able in the spring of 1972). Using both the 1960 and 1970

29

U. S. Censuses, the following procedures were employed
(the 1960 figures will be cited in order to exemplify the
procedure).

For each of the twenty-three census tracts of the city,
the percentage of families with income between $5,000 and
$15,000 and the percentage of individuals having a high
school education or more were determined.43 Those tracts
in which the obtained income percentage was 35.55 percent
or more and the obtained education percentage was 63.35 L.
percent or more were chosen as the sampling areas. This
yielded six tracts with a total population of about twenty-
seven thousand individuals, twenty-five years of age and
older (the same six census tracts were arrived at with data
from both the 1960 and 1970 Censuses). The number of
foreign-born and the number of non-whites in each of the
six tracts was checked, but none of these figures was large
enough to cause any of the six tracts to be excluded from use.

By use of the time-honored traditional means of draw-
ing slips of paper from a hat, it was determined that the
fourth house from the south corner (in 1972 the third house
from the south corner was used)yon both sides of specified
blocks of streets running north and south were to be con-
tacted as potential interview sites. Every block of the
streets running north and south in each of the six census
tracts was numbered. Slips of paper containing these num-

bers were placed in a hat and two hundred slips were drawn

30

at random, so that four hundred houses were designated for
contact (two hundred blocks times two houses - one house
on each side of the street - equals four hundred houses).

In 1970 this had been considered a sufficient number
of potential households, since the total number of completed
interviews required had been set at no less than one hundred.

Four hundred available houses were sufficient in 1972, but

1

in 1970, after only fifty completed interviews had been

I.' ‘.

obtained, one hundred and forty of the two hundred blocks
(two hundred and eighty houses) had been utilized. It

was necessary, therefore, to select another one hundred and
fifty blocks (three hundred houses), making a total of

three hundred and fifty blocks (seven hundred houses) avail-

able for interviewing.
The Interview Process

Table 1 summarizes the contacts made during the inter-
viewing process. The final sample consists of completed
interviews for which:

1. the wives met all of the criteria for inclusion in
the study papulation, as listed on page 28

2. the spouses gave responses to all questions on
the interview schedule

3. the spouses could be classified on the Ideological
Spectrum - to be classified on the Spectrum the respondent
(may have only two "not sure” responses (the Spectrum will

be fully discussed in the fourth chapter).

Summary of Interview Contacts Made During Collection of Data Process in

Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1970 and 1972

Table 10

31

Percent Interviewed
of Base Population

Final Samples

Total Number
Interviewed

Total Number of House—
holds Where at Least
One Spouse Refused to
be Interviewed

Total Number of Eligi-
ble Respondents (in
base Population)

Total Number of
Households Where

One or Neither Spouse
Was Available

Total Number of
Households Contacted
Where Wife Did Not
Meet Criteria For
Inclusion in Pop-
ulation

Total Number of
Households Con-
tacted as Potential
Interview Sites

Year

 

 

206 221 113 56%

397

78

108

505

1970

125 100 58

25 91 214 23

239

1972

611 229 396 213 57

169

133

7m»

Total

 

1

 

was t
schoo
two h
frequ
was 1
indix

when

beca
OI‘n

in 1

32

The most common population criterion not met by wives
was the age criterion, although several wives were not high
school graduates and one wife was not native-born. Over
two hundred people refused to be interviewed. The most
frequent reason given for this refusal was that the person
was too busy to answer any questions. Almost all of these
individuals also refused to be interviewed at a later date
when they would be ”less busy”.

As can be noted from Table 1, this refusal rate was
significantly higher in 1970 than in 1972 (hi versus 10
percent). A high refusal rate such as this presents bias-
ing possibilities which could affect the data collected
and thus seriously alter the final conclusions drawn from
the data obtained. Biasing might also have been introduced
because of the higher percentage of households where one
or neither spouse was home in 1972 (38 versus 16 percent
in 1970).

‘hese two sets of figures could have opposite results.
The large percentage of people who refused to be inter-
viewed in 1970 could have been individuals who were not
socially and/or politically active and were, therefore,
more likely to be home and family-centered, reducing the
liklihood that they would admit a stranger to their home to
answer questions about social and political involvement.
The large percentage of households where one or neither

spouse was home in 1972 could have meant that these wives

33

were involved in some social or political activity at the
time and that the majority of wives who were home and were
interviewed were homebodies, or not involved in social and
political activities.

There is also a significant difference in the final
sample as percent of total contacts figures for 1970 and
1972, the first figure being 20 percent lower than the
second. In 1972 less than half the number of households
contacted in 1970 were needed to obtain nearly the same
number of completed interviews. In 1972 the interviewer
had less trouble gaining access to homes, obtaining com-
leted interviews, and less trouble finding wives who met
all of the population criteria, but more trouble finding
both spouses at home. These difficulties, or non-diffi-
culties, in obtaining completed interviews could have
resulted in final samples with some characteristics not
taken into account which could have an effect on the
resultant data.

The interviews were conducted in the evening, mainly
between 6:30 and 8:30 P.M. to insure the highest probabil-
ity that both spouses would be home. Also for this reason,
most of the interviews were conducted on weekday nights.
The interviews were oral in nature and, on the average,
took from ten to fifteen minutes, the longest interview
lasting about thirty minutes.

In most cases both husband and wife were present through-

011'

th

AI

CC

m1

3“

out the entire interview. In several instances, however,
the wife was interviewed first and then the husband appeared

from another room to be interviewed.
The Interview Instrument

A copy of the interview schedule is presented in
Appendix A. Items one through seven, excluding item five,
consist of background questions designed to elicit the
necessary ”screening“ information by which the population
was delimited. If the wife did not qualify as a potential
respondent for the purposes of this study, the interview
was terminated as near to item ten as possible.uu

Item five determines employment status. This status
is based not only on the respondent's present employment
situation, but also on her having been employed in the recent
past and her willingness to seek employment. Items six and
seven are the components of the Index of Social Position, a
measuring device to determine an individual's social class
standing. It should be noted that on these items, the
interviewer, not the respondents, determines into which
occupatbnal and educational categories the husband is to
be placed.

Item nine consists of the components of the social
activity index. When these questions are asked, the
respondent is shown a sample list of broad categories of

social organizations and clubs. These categories are:

35

Veterans, military, or patriotic

Lodges or fraternal

Civic or service

Church or religious

Social, sports, hobby, or recreational
Cultural, educational, or college alumni
Economic, occupational, or professional.“5

Item eight and items ten through nineteen comprise
the Political Activity Index. On item ten, if the respond-
ent answers that she is a registered voter, she is then
asked if she had voted within the past two years. This
is done because in Pennsylvania, if a registered voter does
not vote within a two-year period, his name is stricken
from the voting records and he must re-register if he wishes
to vote again. Therefore, if the wife replies that she is
a registered voter but has not voted in the past two years,
then she is not a registered voter.

Item twenty, and the item listed on the husband's part
of the interview schedule, are items of the "Ideological
Spectrum“ designed to determine the individual's degree of
political conservatism. The five items of the Spectrum
were printed on index cards and presented to the respondents

to read while the interviewer read them aloud.
Measurement Procedures

Although the samples were chosen from areas of Allen-

36

town that were determined to be largely middle-class in
nature, additional data were obtained to determine the
families' specific social class position. This informa-
tion was used as a check on the method of sample selection
and it also served as a means to categorize any marginal
cases that might be encountered. Hollingshead and Myer's
Index of Social Position, the ISP, was utilized as a class-

ification instrument.

 

The ISP employees a seven-point occupational and a
seven-point educational index to measure social class. The
occupational index is a modification of the Alba Edwards
system of classifying occupations into socioeconomic groups
as used by the United States Bureau of the Census. The
Edwards index does not, however, differentiate among types
of professionals or sizes of businesses. The ISP remedies
this by dividing professionals into major-, lesser-, and
semi-professional and by ranking businesses by their size
and value. It is "premised upon the assumption that occu-
pations have different values attached to them by the mem-
bers of our society.“+6

The educational index is based on the premise that
people having similar educational backgrounds tend to
possess similar attitudes and tastes and exhibit similar
behavioral patterns. Slight modifications were made in the
wording of the education index. For example, the category

“standard college or university graduation” was reduced to

37

read ”college graduate”.

To obtain the individual's ISP score, the category
number of the occupational index is multiplied by seven
and the category number of the educational index is multi-
plied by four. These two products are then added together.
The resultant number is the ISP score. An example of this
process is, if a husband is a skilled worker (occupational
category five) and is a high school graduate (educational
category four), his ISP score is (5 x 7) + (u x u) I 35 + 16 =
51.

To be classified as a member of the middle-class, the
respondent's score must fall between seventeen and sixty-
four points. 0n the original ISP the middle-class is
divided into lower middle, middle, and upper middle. Dis-
tinctions such as these were not needed in this study, so
the three categories were combined into a general ”middle-
class" category. Because social class is an exclusidnary,
rather than a dependent or independent, variable, the rela-
tively gross measurement of the ISP was deemed to be suffi-
cient for the purposes of this study.

A device is also employed to measure the extent of the
wife's social involvement. In his study, ”Social Involve-
ment and Political Activity: A Replication and Elaboration,"
William Erbe uses the following measures to determine organ-
izational involvement: number of memberships in social

organizations, frequency of attendance at meetings, expressions

1"" _

38

of interest in organizational affairs, and participation
as measured by committee memberships, office-holding,
and financial contributions.“7

The index adapted for use in this study is a modified
version of Erbc's measuring device. It consists of the
following components:

1. number of memberships in social organizations

2. frequency of attendance, as measured by hours per
month devoted to the organizations, including time spent
at meetings and at other organizational activities

3. number of offices held in the organizations.

Erbe's measure, expressions of interest in organiza-
tional affairs, was not used because an individual may ex-
press great interest in the organization(s) to which he
belongs, but this does not mean that he is an active member
of the organizations, attending meetings, or taking part
in other organizational activities. Regular attendance
at meetings, and holding an office, demonstrates sufficient
interest in organizational affairs.

Financial contributions are disregarded because some
organizations do not require direct financial support from
their members. Rather, they gain finances through sponsor-
ing various affairs such as bake sales or bazaars. A
determination of how much and how often an individual sup-
ports these affairs financially and what this means relative
to the financial support typically given the organization is

39

quite difficult to make.
Scoring for the resultant social activity index is

as follows:

score
number of memberships 1 - 3 1
h and over 2
fre uency of attendance 1 _ 5- 1

hours per month)

6 - 9 2 a
10 and over 3
offices held 1 - 2 1
3 and over 2

The range of possible scores is from zero to seven. A
person scoring 0 - 1 is considered socially inactive and
scores from 2 - 7 indicate that the person is socially
active. The three index items will be analyzed individually
in the third chapter, and then be combined into a scale form.

Once this index had been developed to measure social
activity, a device was needed to measure extent of political
activity. Political organisations are considered as dis-
tinct from what are classified as social organizations. The
‘Woodward-Roper Political Participation Scale was modified
and expanded to serve this purpose. It uses six categories
‘which make up the following Index of Political Activity:

Voting

Once or more in the past four years

Three times or more
Five times or more

no

Discussing Public Issues With Others
Discusses frequently and takes an equal share
in the conversation
Discusses frequently and usually tries to con-
vince others he is right

Belonging to Organisations That Take Stands on Public
Issues

Belongs to 1 or more such organizations

Belongs to two or more

Written or Talked to Congressman or Other Public
Official to Give Own Opinion on a Public Issue
One or more times in the past year
Two or more times in the past year

fl

Worked for the Election of a Political Candidate in
Last Four Years

 

gentributegBMoney to a Party or Candidate in Last
our Years

Woodward and Roper state that these actions constitute an
operational definition of the term "political activity”.
Several types of political action have been overlooked in
this index, however, so that the index was expanded to an
eleven-item scale which provides a working definition of
the term ”political activity“ as utilized in this study
(the resultant Political Activity Index is found in Appen-
dix B).

Woodward and Roper's category ”Voting" is divided into
“Registered to Vote" and "Voting” to include respondents who
show even some slight political interest by registering to
vote, but, for various reasons, never actually vote. The
respondent is not asked directly how many times she has
voted in the past four years because people sometimes for-

get how many elections have transpired (in Pennsylvania

2:1

as in many states, elections are held every year, so that
there are eight elections within any four year period).

The category "Discussing Public Issues With Others”
is limited by Woodward and Roper to include only those
individuals who discuss public issues frequently and also
the extent to which these individuals attempt to influence
the political views of others. This category, therefore,
is divided into “Discuss Public Issues With Others", which
includes respondents who discuss these issues occasionally
rather than frequently, and "Attempt to Influence the Polit-
ical Views of Others“ which is a distinct action from merely
talking about politics or public issues.

The category, ”Belonging to Organisations That Take
Stands on Public Issues,“ is modified to “Belong to Organ-
izations That are Politically Relevant,“ to include only
organizations whose purpose is more-or-less “purely” polit-
ical. Such organizations in Allentown include The Young
Democrats and The South Side Republican Club. Lane explains

that

. . . the political nature of organizations that take

stands on issues varies from time to time depending

on the eggial, economic, and political situation as

a whole.

Many organizations, at one time or another, may con-
cern themselves with a public issue such as housing, better
government, or school problems, but that does not infer
'that these organizations are in any way political. Wood-

ward and Roper do not define what they mean by “taking a

#2

stand on public issues.“ Do they mean discussing public
issues, reaching some type of group consensus about them,
or taking direct action to attempt to change the situation?
It is difficult, therefore, to determine which organiza-
tions should be included in this category.

In addition to counting number of memberships in
politically relevant organizations, frequency of attendance
at meetings, as measured by hours per month devoted to the
organizations, and offices held in the organisations are
used to determine extent of activity in politically relevant
organizations.

The notion of giving one's opinion is excluded from
the category “Written or Talked to Congressman or Other
Public Official to Give Own Opinion on a Public Issue" be-
cause it is felt that generally the main purpose in writing
or talking to an official i; to express one's opinion on
some issue.

The last two categories of Woodward and Roper's Index
are maintained in their original form, except that the last
category is reduced from four to two years because the
respondents might not have been able to remember back that
far. Three categories are added to the above sight: ”Read
About Politics", ”Attend Political Rallies“, and "Ran for
Political Office”.

This modified index is considered to be cumulative in
that, if a person participates in an activity near the end

“3

of the index ("Ran for Political Office” is the last cate-
gory), then he will have participated in all the previous
activities. The index begins with what is considered to
be the most basic activity related to political participa-
tion, 1. e. reading about politics, and works its way up
to the highest form of political activity, i. e. holding
a political office.

The sequence of the categories of the Political Activ-
ity Index is not important in the scoring process because
scoring is not based on one category being more important
than another, but rather on one response within a category
being more important than the other responses, having a
higher score, that is. The categories are ranked, but
this rank is in order of occurence, not importance.

Scoring for the index is shown on the sample in Appen-
dix B. For example, on question eleven, if the respondent
answers occasionally, she receives one point, and if she
answers frequently, she receives two points. A score of
twenty-eight is possible on the index. As with the Social
Activity Index, the items of the Political Activity Index
and the responses to them will be analysed individually and
then be reduced to scale form in the third chapter.

A final index was required to determine political
ideology, or rather, extent of political conservatism.

.An index developed by Free and Cantril was used for this

jpurpose. They developed two devices to measure political.

an

conservatism, an Operational Spectrum and an Ideological
Spectrum. Free and Cantril state that
. . practically speaking, one of the best ways to

differentiate liberals from conservatives in this
country under present conditions is to test attitudes
toward new uses of power and resources of the Federal
government as the means to accomplish domestic social
objectives. The general disposition of the liberals
is to approve of such use, of the conservatives to
disapprove.

The Operational Spectrum includes one question which
deals with the "proposed" Medicare program which was adopted
after the Spectrum was developed. It would have been nec-
essary, therefore, to formulate a question to replace this
one. The Ideological Spectrum, on the other hand, contains
five statements which are still socially and economically
relevant. These statements deal with attitudinal ideas
about the role of government which label the individual's
ideological framework as to the degree of conservatism.

The Ideological Spectrum rates respondents according
to their responses to five statements, some dealing with
"ideological conceptions of the proper role and sphere of
government and some with abstract ideas about the nature
and functioning of our socioeconomic system."51 An indivi-
dual's responses to these statements is a rough index of
his acceptance or rejection of the traditional American
conservative ideology.

On the Spectrum the respondent is asked to agree, dis-

agree, or say that he is not sure of a response. On the

“5

original Spectrum the third possible response was ”don't
know“. This was changed to ”not sure“ to allow the respond-
ent to show uncertainty without sounding ignorant or unknow-
ledgeable.

To be rated on the Spectrum, the respondent must agree
or disagree with at least three of the five statements,
having no more than two ”not sure" responses. In the orig-
inal rating system Free and Cantril had five categories:
completely liberal, predominantly liberal, middle-of-the-
road, predominantly conservative, and completely conserva-
tive. Distinctions this precise were not necessary for the
purposes of this study so the first two categories were
combined into “liberal" and the last two categories were
combined into “conservative”. The resultant rating system

is as follows:

Agree Disaggee Not Sure

liberal

middle-of—the-road {

uNNHHHOOO
wamucua—m
OHONO-‘ONHO

#6

Agree Disagree Not Sure

conservative

va-‘c'uwm
OOHOPH
OHONHN

It was found to be more useful for the purposes of this

study, however, to analyze each of the five items of the

Ideological Spectrum individually, rather than combining 1

the five into a scale, especially in light of the finding
that the items form a two-dimensional, not a unidimensional,

index. This analysis will be conducted in the fourth chapter.
Procedures for Analysis of Data

Once the data were collected, they were coded and
punched on IBM cards. Frequency distributions were then
obtained for all data categories: the three items of the
Social Activity Index; the eleven components of the Polit-
ical Activity Index; and the five items of the Ideological
Spectrum. Seven sets of distributions were obtained -
distributions of employed versus non-employed wives in each
year (yielding two distributions), of the 1970 versus the
1972 employed wives, of the 1970 versus 1972 non-employed
‘wives, of all 1970 wives versus all 1972 wives, of all
employed versus all non-employed wives, and of all wives

combined (total sample). A portion of the various

#7

percentages which resulted from these distributions are
reported in the third and fourth chapters.

The frequency distributions of the responses to the
five statements composing the Ideological Spectrum demon,
strated a possibility that these statements formed a Gutt-
man scale. A scalogram analysis was conducted, therefore.
The results are discussed in the fourth chapter.

The percentages of the “agree" responses of the various
groups of wives - nonoemployed and employed in both sample
years -— were examined and compared, The results suggested
that an examination of the rates of both husbands and wives
who gave “agree“ responses to the same items of the Ideolog-
ical Spectrum might throw additional light on the hypoth-
eses. This, also, will be examined in the fourth chapter.

In addition, an attempt was made to determine if prev-
ious employment, seeking a job, and extent of employment
had any effect on social and political activity rates. It
had been assumed that if the wife, although not presently
employed, had been employed in the last five years, or had
sought employment within the last year, then she might tend
to have attitudes similar to those of an employed wife.
However, none of the non-employed wives in either sample
had sought employment in the past year, and a total of only
fifteen wives from the two samples had been employed at
some time during the previous five years. This number was
not large enough for any significant conclusions to be made.

The wives, therefore, were retained in the non-employed

 

cate

time
bad
man
Viv

m

#8

category.

Working wives were asked if they were employed part-
time or full-time to determine if extent of employment
had any effect on the wife's social and political involve-
ment. When the rates of social and political activity of
wives employed part-time were compared with wives employed

full-time, no significant difference emerged.

FINDINGS: LEVELS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ACTIVITY

In this chapter the degree of social and political
activity of the respondents will be examined and analyzed
by use of the indexes described in the previous chapter.
A comparison will be made according to sample year and
employment status.

"Social“ and “political” activities are aspects of the
same general configuration, namely, social interaction. A
comprehensive definition of social activity will encompass
political activities and, generally, the two dimensions
are interrelated. For the purposes of this study, the two
types of social interactional activity are separated. Polit-
ical activities are operationally defined as those activities
specified by the Political Activity Index. social activities
are those specified by the Social Activity Index. In study-
ing the social organizational behavior of married women in
middle-class neighborhoods of Allentown, any organisation
which is not deemed as being a political organisation or
club is designated a social organization or club.

{Effects of Employgent on Social Activity Rates of married Women

 

A comparison of the levels of social activity of non-

employed and employed wives by year and by total sample is

“9

50

presented in Table 2. This comparison shows that non-
emplcyed wives had basically the same levels of social
participation in 1970 and 19723 the percent holding mem-
berships in social organizations and holding offices in
these organizations was similar. In 1972, however, a
slightly higher percentage of non-employed wives devoted
more than four hours per month to organizational activities,
including meetings (a difference of 4 percent).

In comparing the 1970 and 1972 employed wives, dis-
tinct differences can be found: the latter group had a
lower level of social activity in all three categories.
Also, there were in percent fewer employed wives in 1972
as in 1970 who held memberships in one or more social organ-
izationsa 19 percent less who participated in organizational
activities exceeding a total of four hours per month; and
7 percent fewer who held offices in these organizations.

Despite the fact that the non-employed wives had
similar rates of social activity in 1970 and 1972 whereas
the employed wives had dissimilar rates, for the total
sample (1970 and 1972 combined), employed wives manifest
higher participation rates in two of the three social activ-
ity categories. That is, employed wives are generally more
socially active than non-employed wives,

There are significant differences in the rates of
activity of non-employed and employed wives in 1970, but

there are no such distinct differences between these groups

I

 

51

 

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n>avo< Hmsoapsunsmwuo

ca soavcnuoavmsm

 

an m: m: m: ow

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020 CH AwnmAcQSes

 

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Ana a za apm>mpo< Hamoom

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A<BOH mums

Hc>oq one came

 

 

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teams“: we hvd>avo¢ Hmaoom Ho Ho>oq one 0959 no mcoaPSQaupmHn emmpmooMom .N capme

52

in 1972, except that the employed wives are less likely to

hold offices in organizations than are the non-employed

wives (3 versus 9 percent). The gap between the rates of

the 1972 wives is, therefore, smaller than the gap between

the i970 wives. The differences between the 1970 groups

are large enough to result in the differences between the

two total sample groups. .4

The employed wives are more likely to belong to social
organizations and more likely to spend more than four hours
per month in organizational activities than non-employed
wives. The proportions of non-employed and employed wives
holding offices in organizations are similar, however: in
both cases, the proportions are low.

The higher social activity rates of employed wives
confirms one of the suppositions proposed in the first
chapter, namely, that employed wives exhibit higher rates
of social participation than do non-employed wives. This
confirmation is not as strong as had been expected, however.
The differences in the activity rates of the two groups
are not as noticeably distinct in 1972 as they are in 1970
(there is a 2 percent difference in 1972 and an 18 percent
difference in 1970).

The non-employed wives have similar rates of membership
in organisations, participation in organizational activities,
and holding offices for both sample years, while the employed

*wdves have greater differences in these rates, the 1972

53

group having the lower rates in each of the three cats-
gories.

There are distinct differences between the i970 groups,
with the employed wives having higher social activity rates.
There are no such differences between the 1972 groups, howb
ever. The non—employed wives have maintained similar rates
while the employed wives have lower rates in 1972, and these
rates have been lowered to the same level as those of the
non-employed wives. According to these results, employ-
ment status has an effect on the social activity rates of
the 1970 sample respondents . A variable which has not
been taken into account has affected the latter respondents
in some way, resulting in no differences between these
groups.

One possible reason for the lessened social activity
rates of the employed wives is that these women have less
time available to them for participation in formal social
activities. This possibility was rejected in the first
chapter, but perhaps the amount of leisure time available
to employed wives is a greater influence on involvement in
social activities than was thought. This does not neces-
sarily mean that employed wives are not engaged in any type
of’social interaction. These wives may be spending more
time in informal social activities, such as neighboring,
‘visiting friends or relatives, or participating in recrea-

‘tional activities not formally organized. Or these wives

54

could be expending more time and energy on activities
which are politically-oriented.

This supposition is not substantiated, however, by
the political activity results obtained. As described in
the following section, participation of the total study
sample in those simpler types of political activity, such
as reading about politics and being registered to vote,
are fairly high, but the participation rates lessen as the
”higher” levels of political activity, such as working in

a campaign or attending a political rally, are examined.

Respgnses to the Components of the Political Activity Index

Lane reports that five-sixths, 83 percent, of the pop-
ulation of the United States read a newspaper regularly
and three-fifths, 60 percent, read at least one magazine
regularly. Assuming that this reading is not too super-
ficial and that some people read a ”news magazine“ such as
$153 or U. 8. News and World Reports, rather than sports
or fashion magazines, then a majority of the population
should read about politics. In the present Allentown samples,
89 percent of the female respondents replied that they do
read about politics rather than skip politically-oriented
articles.

Lane also states that political discussion of one sort
or another is almost universal throughout American society.

'rhis is substantiated by the fact that all but one of the

If-_I——-_1

55

213 Allentown respondents reported that they discuss pub-
lic issues with family, friends, or associates at least
occasionally.

Talking about politics differs from, and is more
frequent than attempts at political persuasion, but these
attempts at influence are often made by people who other-
wise exhibit no ”higher” forms of political participation.
At first examination the category ”Attempt to Influence
Political Views of Others” appears to be just an expansion
of the previous category, ”Discuss Public Issues With Others“
in that it measures the extent to which one discusses polit-
ical issues. Implicit in the possible responses, however,
is the idea that expressing one's opinions, even on a some-
what infrequent basis, is part of the groundwork necessary
for attempts to influence others. Ninety-seven percent of
the total sample said that they at least inject their
opinions now and then in a conversation about politics.

If a person reads about politics and discusses it and
tries to influence the political views of others, he should
feel a social obligation to register to vote, if not to
actually vote. Seventy-eight percent of the total sample
1were registered voters at the time of the study and only
seven of these 167 respondents said that they had voted
occasionally rather than frequently.

According to Lane, a majority of the American popula-
'tion would be willing to write to public officials, but

56

only about 10 to 15 percent actually do so. It was found
that 30 percent of the Allentown wives either wrote or
spoke to a public official in the past year and most of
these women explained that they had talked rather than
written. This 30 percent is a substantially higher out-
come than would have been expected in light of the 15 per-
cent figure mentioned by Lane. Also, the fact that most
of the study respondents who answered yes to this question
had engaged in spoken rather than written interaction with
a public official shows a higher form of activity. Writ-
ing a letter is basically more impersonal than speaking
directly to an individual.

It had been assumed that attending a political rally
would entail less commitment than making financial contri-
butions to a party or candidate. However, more of the
study respondents gave financial contributions than attended
political rallies (in versus 3 percent). The very low rate
of attendance at rallies was not due to a lack of such
political happenings. Major rallies sponsored by local
political organizations had occurred during the two years
prior to each sample year in and near Allentwen, including
rallies at which presidential candidates appeared and spoke.
Apparently, however, making a financial contribution en-
tailed more political commitment than attending a rally,
although both categories did have very low response rates.
The differences between the two may not be that significant

5?

because of these low percentages.

Joining a political club or organization is a far
more “activist" step in level of political participation,
implying almost all of the previous types of activity.
Political clubs often sponsor their own rallies (category
7) at which members have an opportunity to speak to public
officials (category 6). It is assumed that the member is
a registered and practicing voter (categories 5 and a)
before joining the club.

Discussions of public issues (category 2) would most
certainly take place and the members would also probably
attempt to convince non-members that their political views
are right (category 3). It is expected that club members
read about politics (category 1). Only seven (3 percent)
of the total respondents, however, belonged to any political
organizations, and two of these women did not attend any of
the organization's meetings or other activities, reducing
the percentage of respondents who participate in these
organizations to 2 percent, a very low and insignificant
rate. This outcome was not totally unexpected in light
of the fact that membership in social organizations was
low, as reported in the previous section. Since political
organizations are much less prevalent than social organi-
sations, there would be a lower expectancy rate for member-
ship in the former type of organisation.

Political party funds tend to come primarily from

 

58

large contributions of a relatively few donors; making a
monetary contribution, even a rather small one, to a polit-
ical party or candidate is not widely practiced and would
require a substantial amount of political interest and
motivation on the part of the donor. Peeple who belong

to a political organization should feel a greater obliga-
tion, and probably be under more social pressure, to make
at least a token contribution. As mentioned earlier, 1“

percent of the respondents had made financial contributions,

 

which includes more than the members of political clubs.
For a person to take part in a political campaign,
whether doing clerical work at a candidate's headquarters
or going door-to-door seeking votes, he would have to be
highly motivated. This motivation would be gained, in
part, from participation in various other political activ-
ities. Twelve percent of the respondents had done some
type of work for a political candidate in the previous
four years. This response was higher than was expected.
The highest form of political participation is that
of holding a political office, including both elective
and appointive offices. If a person had ever held such
an office, or even run for one, he will probably have
participated in many other forms of political activity,
if not before taking office, then during or after taking
office. None of the respondents, however, had ever run

for or been appointed or elected to such an office.

59

This is not surprising in light of the low rates of in-
volvement of the respondents in each of the political
activity categories examined above and also in light of
the fact that only a very small percentage of American
women do hold any type of political office.

In examining the rates of involvement of the study
respondents in the various categories composing the Social
and Political Activity Indexes, it is evident that these
rates are not significantly high. The wives in the total
sample are not active socially or politically. Despite
these low rates, however, there are differences in the
involvement of employed versus non-employed wives and in
the rates of the 1970 wives versus the 1972 wives, as noted
in the two previous sections. In the following section,
the political activity rates of the non-employed and

employed wives are examined and compared.

Comparison of Political Activity Rates of Non-Employed
and Employed Wives

A comparison of the levels of political activity, as
determined by the various items included in the Political
Activity Index, of non-employed and employed wives, by
year and by total sample, is shown in Table 3. As with
the rates of social activity, there are significant dif-
ferences between the various activity rates of non-employed

and employed wives in 1970, but there are few significant

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61

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62

differences between the various activity rates of non-
employed and employed wives in 1972.52

Of the thirteen categories of political activity shown
in Table 3, the 1970 employed wives have higher percentage
rates than the 1970 non-employed wives in eight categories.
And in six of these eight categories, the differences are
more than ten percent. The 1972 employed wives have higher
percentage rates than the 1972 non-employed wives in only
five of the thirteen categories, and all of these differ-
ences are less than ten percent.

Of the total sample, employed wives have higher per-
centages of activity rates than non-employed wives in six
of the thirteen categories. The most significant differ-
ences are in the following categories: "Discuss Public
Issues With Others Frequently," "Wrote or Talked to Public
Official at Least Once in Past Year,” "Contributed Finan-
cially to Party or Candidate in Past Four Years.“

In the first category of the above-mentioned four,
thereis a 16 percent difference between the activity rates
of the two groups of wives; but even so, only 23 percent
of the employed wives discuss public issues frequently
with family, friends and associates. This percentage may
be greater than that of the non-employed wives, but it is
not a significant proportion, considering that discussing
‘public issues with others is at the "lower“ end of the

‘Political Activity Index (meaning that more women should

63

exhibit this type of behavior).

Twenty-four percent more employed wives than non-
employed wives wrote or talked to a public official. This
difference is significant because forty-five percent of
the employed wives wrote or spoke to an official, and this
is a substantial rate of participation for this category,
especially in light of a statement made by Lane, as reported

previously, that only 10 to 16 percent of the general pop-

 

ulation write to public officials.

A significantly larger proportion of employed wives
made financial contributions to a party or candidate than
did non-employed wives (25 versus 9 percent) for the total
sample. (An interesting note is that three-fourths of this
25 percent consists of wives from the 1970 sample.

There are three categories for the total sample which
have zero percentages for both employed and non-employed
wives. These categories are ”Participation in Organisa-
tional Activities Exceeding Total of Four Hours Per Month,"
"Officer in One or More Political Organization,” and "Held
or Ran for Political Office.” There are two categories for
the 1972 sample which have zero percentages for both groups
of wives. The categories are ”Seek out Books and Articles
.About Politics,” and "Attended at Least One Political Rally
in Past Two Years.”

One fact pointed out by the figures in Table 3 is
'that the total sample of both non-employed and employed

6h

wives in 1970 and 1972 are not politically active. There
are several categories, notably "Registered to Vote," ”Voted
Frequently," and ”Wrote or Talked to Public Official” which
show fairly high rates of participation, but there are other
categories which show very low rates. Seven of the thir-
teen categories have percentage figures for both employed
and non-employed wives which are less than 10 percent.
Employed wives may have higher percentage rates of partici-
pation than non-employed wives in a number of categories

of political activity, but even though 6 percent is larger
than 2 percent, the first figure is itself indicative of

a low level of participation.

A second fact pointed out by the figures in the table
is that the participation rates of both non-employed and
employed wives were lower in 1972 than they had been in
1970. Even though both groups declined in levels of activ-
ity, the employed wives had a greater decline in participa-
tion in the various categories than did non-employed wives.

These findings are puzzling in light of the fact that
the temporal setting of the 1972 study seemed to be of a
nature that would be more conducive to increased politi-
cal participation. During the summer preceeding a presi-
dential election there generally tends to be a flurry of
‘political activity. In a comparison of the total sample
‘by year, however, 20 percent of the 1970 wives versus 2 per-

cent of the 1972 wives discussed public issues frequently)

65

91 versus 63 percent were registered voters, 87 versus
63 percent had voted frequently, and 20 versus 2 percent

had worked for the election of a political candidate.

oward an Explanation of Discrepancies Between_1920 and 1222

.1—

One possible explanation for discrepancies between
the situations in 1970 and 1972 is that the summer is still
too early for increased political participation to occur
before the election. Perhaps people became more active in
the month or two right before the election (the election
was in November while data collection occurred in the
months of June through August).

A second plausible explanation is that the 1972 pres-
idential election did not interest many people. There was
not a substantially high electoral turnout that November,
and political scientists indicated that the electorate
appeared to be more apathetic than usual during the entire
1972 election. The general mood of the population toward
that election could have resulted in the lower participa-
tion rates in general of married women in Allentown. '

Another possibility is that the decreased levels of
political participation of the wives in 1972, as compared
with the levels in 1970, could be due to the general atti-
tudes of these women toward the desirability and effective-
ness of such participation. This, in turn, might be due

to the way that these wives feel about the role of govern-

 

66

ment and the economic system, as evidenced by the sample
respondents, both male and female.

As noted previously, social activity tends to precede
political activity. An individual who is politically ac-
tive also tends to be socially active. In fact, the two
types of involvement enhance one another. Neither the 1970
nor the 1972 sample, however, is significantly socially
active (and, therefore, the total sample is not very active).

From these results, one would suspect that neither sample

 

exhibits high rates of political participation. This was
found to be the case.

Because of the fairly low rates of social and politi-
cal activity of the sample wives, it is difficult to draw
any conclusions from the patterns which emerge from the data
results, as reported above. Employment status had an effect
on the social activity of the 1970 wives and this effect
was in the expected direction -— the employed wives were
noticeably more socially active than the non-employed wives.
This pattern was not repeated in the 1972 data, however.

The employed wives had lower rates in 1972 than in 1970,
while the non-employed wives had similar rates in the two
years, resulting in comparable rates for the two groups in
1972.

The findings for the 1972 data are even less clear-
cut, due to the fact that there are a number of categories

of the Political Activity Index for which response rates are

67

very low. It is difficult to conclude, therefore, whether
or not there is a significant difference between 3 and 5
percent. The patterns which do emerge from these data are
the same as those resulting from the social activity data:
that is, there are greater differences between the non-
employed and employed wives in 1970 than in 1972, and the
differences in 1970 are in the expected direction of the
employed wives having higher activity rates.

Employment status has the expected effect on both social
and political involvement in 1970, but not in 1972. An exam-
ination and discussion of plausible reasons for this dis-

crepancy will be made in the fifth chapter.

 

FINDINGS: THE IDEOLOGICAL SPECTRUM

The majority of Americans, according to some observers,
tend to be politically conservative. Among the findings
which substantiate this statement are those obtained by
Free and Cantril from a 196h national sample, Before find-
ings and generalizations such as these can be fully under-
stood, however, the term "conservative", which has under-
gone a change in connotation in the United States over the
past two hundred years, must be more clearly defined.

In the past, to be politically conservative meant
that the individual favored a status quo situation in so
far as the nature and role of government was concerned.

That is, a “conservative” was satisfied with what the govern-
ment was doing. Liberals in America were people who advo—
cated individualism - the protection of the individual

from the growing powers of government, especially the Fed-
eral government, which was highly distrusted. Liberals
valued private enterprise, economic freedom, individual
initiative, and self-reliance. States' rights were advo-
cated, with a system of checks and balances and a division
of power, to ensure that the Federal government would not
encroach on areas which could best be handled closer to home

by local governments.

68

69

A liberal ideology was linked to a laissez-faire view
of government, and this ideology was influenced by theories
of social Darwinism prevalent at that time. These theories
held that competition was necessary to assure the survival
of the fittest. According to these views, poverty labelled
the individual as being inherently inferior. As Free and
Cantril note,

State intervention, by inhibiting the develop-

ment of individual initiative and responsibility, was

seen as stultifying the development of character and

protecting the lazy, the inefficient, and the shift-
less. These doctrines of 'liberalism' (old style),
widely propagated by the stories of Horatio Alger,

are what we mean by the traditional American ideology.53

By the twentieth century, liberals favored the strength-
ening of governmental powers in order to promot the public
welfare and social justice. Modern liberals approve of in-
creased governmental intervention because, as they see it,

individual initiative is not strong enough to cope with
the system,

Measurement of the Liberalism-Conservatism Polarity

Liberalism and conservatism, as discussed above, can
be conceptualized as consisting of two distinct polari ties:
attitudes toward the role of government and attitudes toward
the general socioeconomic system. Free and Cantril formu-
lated their Ideological Spectrum specifically to deal with
these two types of attitudes. Items one and two tap the

role of government, while items three, four, and five tap

 

70

the socioeconomic system and the use of individual initia-
tive. These five items are:

1. The Federal Government is interfering too much in
state and local matters.

2. The government has gone too far in regulating
business and interfering with the free enterprise system.
3. Social problems here in this country could be
solved more effectively if the government would only keep
its hands off and let people in local communities handle

their own problems in their own way.

4. Generally speaking, any able-bodied person who
really wants to work in this country can find a job and
earn a living.

5. We should rely more on individual initiative and
ability and not so much on governmental welfare programs.

Free and Cantril took these five statements, which
deal with two different attitudinal concepts, and combined
them to form one index which they believe taps an indivi-
dual's political ideology, labelling him as a "liberal" or
a "conservative”. On the Operational assumption that these
items are derived from a common universe of content, an
attempt was made to fit them into a scalogram pattern, From
the frequency distributions of the responses of the total
sample of wives, the items appeared to be scalable. The
percentages of wives who agreed with each of the items

ranged as follows:

_-—_.,.-

71

 

 

Item Percentgge of Wives Agreeigg
Individual Initiative 74
Employment Opportunities 62
Local Control 51
Government Interference 38
Governmental Regulation 29

It was hypothesized that these items formed a Gutt-
man scale pattern and, consequently, the data were sub-
jected to scalogram analysis. The results clearly demon-
strate that the items of the Ideological Spectrum do not
form an acceptable Guttman scale pattern. In this case,
the “best fit" scale obtained had the following character-
istics:

coefficient of reproducibility .7765
minimum marginal reproducibility .6413
percent improvement .1352
coefficient of scalability .3770
This scale, then, is clearly not acceptable.5u

Correlation coefficients for the five items were also
obtained, as shown in Table h. Item one, dealing with
government interference, is correlated highest (.hO) with
item two, dealing with governmental regulation. The third
item, dealing with community control, is correlated highest
with item four, the employment opportunities item (.hS),
while item four and item five, dealing with individual in-
itiative, are correlated highest with one another (.87).

These coefficients demonstrate conclusively that the

 

72

 

 

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um.

00.

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w
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e e l e l e e COHPNHfimwm 0
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nus
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e... e o e e 00CGHGMHOPCH
:« ca ma 0: 00 a vcoecmm>oo w

 

 

o>mpmfipHsH moawucspmommo Homecoo sofivasMom oesomommoch esmpocmm Hmo«MoHoooH
Hmsoa>wocH pomsmoamsm Hmooq Hmpcoscmo>oo psosmmo>ou

039 cowmmosfio oco moMmCosfin

one we mucocomsoo

mum” was one“ am mamm>H>mCCmm .csovcmHH<
mu mo>H3 mmsaonoaooaz mo noncommmm pcoeoomm< op mafiomooo< .ssMpoonm

HmofiwoaoooH m.HHmpcmo use comm no msopH o>fim mo mpcoaoammooo cowpsfiouuoo .: capes

73

five items form a two-dimensional index or spectrum.» Dimen-
sion One focuses on the sphere of government and consists

of the government interference and the governmental regula-
tion items. Dimension Two focuses on the socioeconomic
system and is comprised of the community control, employ-
ment opportunities, and individual initiative items. The
first two items fit together, as do the last two, with the
community control item being associated more with the lat-
ter two items.

The Ideological Spectrum, then, consisting of two
dimensions rather than one, is not a cumulative, i. e. a
unidimensional, scale. To agree or disagree with one of
the five items might evidence a conservative attitude,
but a certain pattern of responses, (e. g. to agree with
two items and disagree with the remaining three) does not
necessarily label the respondent a liberal or a conserva-
tive.

Because there are clearly two distinct dimensions in-
cluded in the Ideological Spectrum, the responses to indivi-
dual items will be examined item by item, rather than as
a summated scale. This phase of the research is concerned
with various comparisons of the non-employed and employed

wives at the two points in time, 1970 and 1972.

Employgent Status and Ideological Perspgctives

If differing attitudes exist between the two sample

groups of wives, this will become clear when the responses

 

7!.

of each group to the components of the Idological Spectrum
are examined. This comparison is shown in Table 5, where
it can be noted that there are significant differences in
the agreement rates of the two year groups for the items

of dimension one (19 and 23 percent), but only slight dif-
ferences in the rates of agreement for the items of dimen-
sion two (2, 8, and 6 percent). From this table it can
also be noted that, except for the employment opportunities
item, the 1972 sample of wives had higher agreement rates
than the 1970 group, even though several of the differences
are slight.

There is a definite increase of pessimistic feelings
toward government control on the part of the 1972 wives.
Attitudes favoring more local and individual control have
not increased, however. This has resulted in a more com-
patible relatbnship between dimension one and dimension
two. A majority of the 1970 wives felt that the federal
government was not exercising excessive control, but a
majority also expressed the opinion that social problems
could best be handled by use of local control and indivi-
dual initiative. The 1972 wives have lessened the gap be-
tween their responses to the two dimensions, although they,
too, tend to favor more local control and individual initia-
tive than less control by the federal government.

This pattern can be further examined by a comparison

of non-employed wives in 1970 and 1972 and of employed wives

 

75

 

s>mpampmcH

 

 

 

 

an an an Hazem>mecH
nu
m.
compacspmonmo Two
mm mm mo vmoshoamsm M cu.
m.
u

mm mm om MMMWMOo

mowpmHsMom
mm 3 ma Hmvcosmmgou m
new
a w
mosmmommopsH I.
mm m: mm vcoscmo>oo m
Anew u 2V Room u zv and“ u zv esupomcm HsommoaomeH
Hence News ones map so unaccomsoo

meow hm .ssmpcomm HsoamoaoocH

m.afimpsmo use comm mo esopH o>um op mass>azmmsom .msovmoHH< ca
mo>a3 mmmaouoaoofiz mo noncommom vcosoomw< wo mcoavsnfimpman owm»Coomom

.m mHnme

76

in both years. Discernable patterns are more difficult to
find in this comparison (see Table 6). For the non-employed
wives on the first dimension there are differences of 12

and 28 percent, while for the employed wives these differ-
ences are 32 and 16 percent. The latter group evidences
only slightly higher rates of difference for the sphere

of government dimension than do the non-employed wives.

In a comparison of the responses to the socioeconomic
dimension, it can be seen that there are more noticeable
differences between the employed groups than between the
non-employed groups. There is a higher rate of change,
therefore, between the two year groups of employed wives
than between the two groups of non-employed wives. There
is not, however, a noticeable difference between the
responses of each group for the two dimensions as there is
between the two year groups (as shown in Table 5).

The most noticeable pattern which emerges from Table 6
is that the agreement rates of the non-employed wives in-
crease from 1970 to 1972 on the sphere of government dimen-
sion, but then decrease from 1970 to 1972 on the socioeco-
nomic dimension. This is not true of the employed wives,
whose agreement rates increase on all five items.

By transposing the year and employment categories of
Table 6, a comparison of the non-employed and employed
wives in each year can be made, as demonstrated in Table 7.

According to the guiding hypotheses set forth in the first

 

77

'I Ll?

P‘

 

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nu
Tee
compassvmommo Tow
3 mm mm mm pmogodmsm M w
m.
U
Homecoo
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comvmasmom
om om +3 3 Hmpsossmgoo m.
nus
unu
cosmmoummvcH e m.
mm om m: an pcossme>oo m
Aammzv mommzv Amwmzv Ammuzv eseaoomm HuomwomoueH
m « mums m a 0 ma
oozoamsm cohoamsmusoz one no upcomomsou

msvmpm psoShonsm an .ssmpoomm HmoawoaoooH m.u«mvmmo
use comm mo msopH o>am op Nuoa use cum“ a“ ewss>ammcsom .ssopmoHH< :«
mo>a3 mmmaouoaoofiz no noncommem vsosoohm< no escapsoampman owspceomom .w canoe

78

 

 

 

 

 

o>apmflpwcH
so we om um Hasem>mecH
m.
me p sspmommo as
s an mm mm pawsmoasm m w
m.
U
on so
mm mm mm 30 wmowq o
coapmasmom
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o w
w w
mocomommoch
mm o: om 3n psoscmo>oo m.
Aamnzv Amonzv Aosnzv Amsuzv sapwoomm HmowmoaoooH
emsoaaam emaoaaamucoz mesoacam emsoaaamucoz as» so upcmcoaaoo
«now one“

use» hm .ssmvoomm HmoamoaoooH m.Hfimpcmo use comm ho
macaw o>Hm ow mficm>Hmm:Com .mxopmoaa< mm mo>a3 mmmHo teased: oomonmsm
one cosofimsm1moz no noncommom passwomm< ho mcoupsnwmpmwn omsvsoomom .5 canes

79

chapter, the non-employed wives should have higher agree-
ment rates, and thus more conservative attitudes, for the
five items of the Spectrum. This holds true in 1970, ex-
cept for the governmental regulation item, to which slightly
more employed wives agree. There are significant differ-
ences in the rates of the two groups of wives in 1970 on
the socioeconomic dimension, but less significant differ- 4J
ences on the sphere of government dimension. F ‘

There are no patterns evident in the responses of the
two groups of wives in 1972. Only slight differences exist
in the agreement rates of the non-employed and employed
wives for dimension one (6 and 8 percent) and for dimension
two (0, h, and 6 percent). There is not much difference,
therefore, in the responses of the two groups of wives in
1972. In fact, the two groups have equal agreement rates
on the local control item. In 1972 the attitudes of non-
employed and employed wives toward governmental power,
local control, and individual initiative are similar -
the gap between employment groups has lessened.

Unlike the 1970 sample, the non-employed wives in 1972
do not have higher agreement rates on the five items of
the Spectrum than do the employed wives. In fact, the
employed wives have higher rates on three items (the non-
employed group is higher on the governmental regulation

item and the two groups have equal rates on the local con-

trol item),SS

80

To recapitulate, a comparison of the 1970 and 1972
wives shows significant differences for the sphere of
government dimension. When these two year groups are com-
pared as non-employed and employed groups, the non-employed
wives also demonstrate more significant differences for
the sphere of government dimension than for the socioeconomic
dimension from 1970 to 1972. The employed wives, however,
have fairly equal differences for both dimensions from 1970
to 1972 (the mean difference for dimension one is 2h per-
cent and the mean difference for dimension two is 27 per-
cent).

There are greater differences between the 1970 and
the 1972 employed wives than there are between the 1970
and 1972 non-employed wives. The differences between the
employed wives, therefore, account for most of the differ-
ences in a comparison of the total 1970 wives and total 1972
wives (see Table 5). When these two total year samples
are each broken down into employment groups, the results
from the 1970 sample are as expected. The responses of the
non-employed and employed groups in 1972 are not as were
anticipated, however. There appear to be circumstantial
conditions evident in 1972 which must be taken into account
so that the attitudinal changes in 1972 may be fully assessed.
Intervening variables may be present, one of which may be
reflected in a comparison of the wife's attitudes toward

the sphere of government and the socioeconomic system to

81

those of her husband. It was proposed in the first chap-
ter that non-employed wives would tend to have political
attitudes similar to those of their husbands while the
attitudes of employed wives tend to differ more from

those of their husbands.

Emplgyment Status and Agreement With Husband's Ideological

 

Perspective ‘4

Non-employed wives, not being involved in larger
societal networks of interrelationships and patterns of in-
teraction, should tend to rely upon the political atti-
tudes of their husbands in order to formulate their own
attitudes. Employed wives, however, being exposed to a
variety of attitudes, in the work situation and in the social
networks that evolve from the work environment, should tend
to develop political attitudes which differ from those of
their husband.

Since the 1972 sample wives evidence attitudes dif-
ferent from those of the 1970 wives, as revealed in their
responses of agreement to the Ideological Spectrum, one
expects that differences might also exist between rates of
the 1970 spouses and the 1972 spouses. Table 8 shows the
percentage rates of both wives and husbands of each sample
year who agree with each of the five items of the Spectrum.

There are no significant differences between the

responses of the 1970 wives and husbands, the largest

82

 

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m.
moavacsvmommo Two
m.
an we mm Om MMMWMOO

cofipmasmom
on H: mm ma amazoscmo>oo m”
new
oocomommoch w w
mm m: mm mm vsoscmo>ou m.
summons: mo>fi3 mosspmsx mo>H3 ssmvoomm HmowmoaoooH

 

Nuoa

onma

on» no monocomsoo

use» mm .ssmpoomm HooawoaoooH m.HHmpmmo use
comm ho msopH o>am op macs>azmccom .szopcoaa< m“ meadows: passe use
mo>fi3 mmmaonofioowz mo noncommom pmosoomm< mo macawspwmvmwn ommpsoomom .m canoe

83

difference between the two groups being 16 percent, with
the husbands having a higher agreement rate. For the 1972
spouses, there are also no significant differences, except
on the government interference item. Twenty-four percent
more husbands agree with this statement than do wives. The
differences between the rates of spouses for both years is
constant. The mean difference between the responses of
wives and husbands for all five items in 1970 is 9.“ per-
cent and the mean difference for these groups in 1972 is
9.2 percent. Although the agreement rates of the 1972
wives differ from those of the 1970 wives, the agreement
rates of the 1972 husbands also differ from those of the
1970 husbands. This results in similar patterns of dif-
ference for both the 1970 and i972 spouses.

A further avenue of investigation is to examine whether
or not the spouses for each year both have agreement
responses to the same items of the Spectrum. According to
the supposition advanced in the first chapter, non-employed
wives should agree more with their husband's responses than
employed wives. These patterns of agreement are set forth
in Table 9, where the wives are divided by year and then
by employment status. Each of these four groups is sub-
divided by their respons to each of the five items of the
Spectrum. The subsequent groups of wives who agree with
the items are then divided into final groupings according

to the husband's,responses to the items.

 

on mm w: an

we :5 0m mm

am we we ow

Q0

sapwoomm one he msopH
HH< ow omcommom comm<

m.ocmnmsm as“; on“: no
psosoomm< no owspsoomom

sampoomm
on» we 039 cowmcoswa no
msopH ow omcoamom oohm<

m.ocmpmsx :9“: oh“: so
pamsoomw< ho ommpsoomom

esmvoomm
one mo oco cowmcmswo no
msopH op omcommom oomm<

m.ocspmsm as“: mg“; no
vcosoomw< wo mmmpCoomom

 

mo>m3 mo>fi3 mo>fi3 mo>fi3
oozoamsm oomoamsmucoz oohoamsm uozoamsmucoz

 

whoa omma

 

 

Aoommc
on; mossnmsm mo monssz so commm omspcoomomv sopH comm
new; oomw< :vom on: mommnmsx one mo>w3 no mafiwmomomm

acoEoohm<

mo mommpcoomom

use» am .ssmpoomm

HmoawoaoooH m.aampsmo was comm mo msovH o>am op macs>azmccom .msopsoaa<
cm monsoon: pawns use mo>fi3 mmmHouoHooaz uoaoflmsm one oozoamsmucoz
no noncommom pmosoomm< moospom mosesmmmoo ho mcoausnfimpmwm ommpccouom .o canoe

85

The percentages in Table 9 are obtained by determin-
ing the sum total of husbands who agree with each item
with which their wives have also agreed, for all five items,
and dividing this number by the sum total of all husbands
who agree with all of the five items. For example, on
the government interference item, there are twenty-five
non-employed wives in 1970 who agree with this statement,
but only four of these twenty-five husbands also agree with
the statement. This is out of a total of seventeen hus-
bands who agree with the statement (four husbands agree,
eight husbands are not sure, and thirteen husbands disagree).

When examining all five items of the Spectrum as an
index of agreement, the results in Table 9 reveal that the
1970 employed wives and their husbands have a lower percen-
tage rate of agreement than do the non-employed wives and
their husbands. This is as expected. Data for the 1972
groups, however, do not support the supposition expressed
earlier -— the 1972 employed wives and their husbands have
a higher percentage rate of agreement than do the non-
employed spouses.

Viewing the agreement response patterns of all five
items of the Spectrum masks the two-dimensional nature of
the Spectrum. The 1970 non-employed wives and their hus-
bands may have a higher agreement rate than the employed
*wives and their husbands when the five items of the Spec-

trum are examined, but when the rates of these groups for

 

86

the sphere of government dimension and the socioeconomic
dimension are taken separately, the picture is altered.
The non-employed wives and their husbands retain a higher
percentage of agreement than the employed wives on dimen-
sion two (83 versus 50 percent), but this pattern is
reversed on dimension one where the employed wives and
their husbands have a higher rate of agreement than do
the non-employed wives (#5 versus 29 percent).

The non-employed group has a 79 percent agreement
rate to all components of the Spectrum, but only a 29 per-
cent rate for the two components of the first dimension.
This, in turn, is in comparison to an 83 percent agreement
rate for the second dimension. The spouses for the group
of 1970 non-employed wives agree more on the use of local
control and individual initiative than they do on the inter-
ference of the federal government in spheres which are not
of its concern.

The employed wives and their husbands in 1970 evi-
dence no such discrepancies in agreement rates. The 46
percent rate for all components of the Spectrum is com-
parable to the “5 percent rate for dimension one and is
not significantly different than the 50 percent rate for
dimension two. The non-employed wives and their husbands
may have higher agreement rates than the employed wives,
but there are internal discrepancies within the former

group which mar the total results.

87

The 1972 groups are somewhat more consistent in their
agreement rates, although the figures are not in a pattern
expected - the employed group has a higher rate of agree-
ment than the non-employed group for both the whole Spec-
trum (76 versus 63 percent) and for the items of dimen-
sion one (54 versus #6 percent). The rates for dimension
two are nearly equal (72 and 7b percent). One noticeable
pattern which emerges from these figures is that, like with
the 1970 nonpemployed group, there are higher agreement
rates for wives and husbands on dimension two than on
dimension one.

Theresults shown in Table 9 do not support the pro-
posed pattern of results. The discrepancies evident in
the rates of the 1970 non-employed group for all five items
combined and for the two groups of items (dimensions one
and two) make the outcome (higher agreement rate of non-
employed wives and their husbands) questionable. In any
event, data reported in Tables 8 and 9 show that the pro-
posed patterns are not obtained in 1972. The non-employed
and employed groups are either comparable or the employed
group has higher, rather than lower, percentage rates than
does the nonéemployed group.

Similar patterns have emerged in the response rates of
the sample respondents as emerged in the social and polit-
ical activity rates of the female respondents. Once again

the differences which have emerged are questionable, due to

 

88

the very small number of responses in some of the cate-
gories of the Ideological Spectrum. Despite the low per-
centages from which to draw conclusions, however, it was
found that the data obtained in 1970 substantiated the pro-
posed outcomes as stipulated in the study hypotheses, while
the 1972 data does not. There are no distinct differences
in agreement rates of the two groups of 1972 spouses. This
is in contradiction to the differences which do exist
between the various 1970 groups.

It is again difficult to conclude whether or not
employment status had an effect on the variable examined,
namely political ideology. From the findings noted in this
and the previous chapter, it is evident that a variable not
taken into account produced unexpected results in 1972.
Several plausible variables will be discussed and examined

in the following, and concluding, chapter.

 

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

The purpose of this chapter is to draw together the
results of the research experience reported here and to
determine the extent to which these findings substantiate
or shed new light upon the hypotheses set forth at the
beginning of the thesis. Plausible explanations for the
discrepancies discovered between 1970 and 1972 data will
also be discussed and these, in turn, will provide a basis

for suggesting useful directions for future research.

Sgggggy of Study Findiggs

The aim of this research was to investigate the effects
of employment on the participation in politically-oriented
activities and on the political attitudes of married women.
Also explored were the effects of employment on social in-
volvement and on the political ideological agreement of
the wives and their husbands. Four hypotheses were formu-
lated to help organize these inquiries.

The first hypothesis is that among wives who are not
employed outside of the home, those who are socially active
tend to be more politically involved than those who are not
socially active. From the data obtained, it appears clear
that this is substantiated in 1970 but not in 1972. The

89

 

90

second hypothesis states that wives who are employed out—

side the home tend to be more politically involved than

wives who do not hold jobs outside the home. This state-

ment is also supported by data obtained in 1970 but not

by data obtained in 1972. In 1972 social activity had no

effect on the political involvement of non-employed wives

and employment status had no effect on political activity ,1
rates. I

Conflicting results were also obtained in an attempt
to substantiate the third hypothesis, which states that
wives who are employed outside the home tend to have less
conservative political attitudes than wives who are not
employed outside the home. The 1970 sample conformed to
this pattern more than the 1972 sample. There was also no
support for the fourth hypothesis in 1972, despite substan-
tiation by the 1970 data. There are differing results
also, therefore, about whether or not the political atti-
tudes of employed wives tend to be more independent of
the attitudes of their husbands than are the attitudes of
non-employed wives.

It should be noted that these married women, in gen-
eral, were not very active socially or politically. That
is, even though there were noticeable differences in the
degree of social and political activity between the non-
employed and employed wives in 1970, these rates were not

very high in an absolute sense. In 1972 employment status

 

91

does not appear to affect the social and political involve-
ment to married, middle-class women in Allentown. Nor does
employment status appear to have an effect on the political
attitudes of these 1972 wives, or on the ideological agree-
ment of the 1972 spouses.

This lack of effect could be due, in part, to an unan-
ticipated restrictive quality inherent in the hypotheses. I
A modification of these hypotheses might result in more

 

supportive findings. The independent variable, employment é
status, had been conceived of as a distinct factor affect-
ing social and political activity in a positive manner.
These three variables, however, may be linked in a much
more interlocking fashion. All three would increase (or
be indicative of an increase in) a wife's exposure to
stimuli which tend to make her more aware of what is hap-
pening in society in general.

As far as political ideology is concerned, employ-
ment and social involvement may work the same way. Both
increase a wife's contacts in society as a whole, expos-
ing her to various political orientations, thus enhancing
the possibility that she will develop political attitudes
differing from those of her husband. Employment may be
an independent variable competing with social activity.
Thus, to specify the interrelationships between employment
status and degree of political activity, one should per-

haps take degree of social activity into account as an

Ja

92

intervening variable. Social and political involvement and
employment may all be similarly linked to the social action
system, involving similar patterns of social relationships
and interaction.

This reasoning, however, still does not explain com-
pletely the fact that different results were obtained in
1970 and 1972, except in so far as the meaning of “employ-
ment” might be undergoing modification. With more women
becoming a part of the labor force in the United States
every year, a re-evaluation of what employment implies
socially might be in order for future investigation.

In addition to this reconceptualization of the term
“employment", there are several other aspects of this study
which should be considered as possible explanations for
the discrepancies in the data findings. These are pre-

sented in the following section.
Reconsideration of the Research Mgthods

The introduction of bias at any point in a research
study is always a possibility. In this study, by design,
controls were used to keep any suspected sources of bias-
ing at a minimum. The population was specifically limited
in terms of certain criteria to obtain a homogeneous
sample. A structure interview schedule was used with the
least number of open-ended questions possible to maintain

uniformity in both the question and answer processes, and

 

 

93

the same questions, with exact wording, were used in both
sample years. The same sampling procedure was followed in
1970 and 1972; a simple random sample procedure ensured
that any member of the population could be chosen for
sample inclusion.

Despite the use of the same procedures in each of the
sample years, biasing could have inadvertently been intro-
duced at any point, especially during the interviewing

process. Even slight differences in question wording could :

 

lead to considerable differences in the proportion of
people who answer one way or another. Obviously, too, the
behavior of the interviewer may influence responses.

One aspect of the methodological procedures which
differed in the two study years was the time of year when
the interviewing was conducted. There was a higher refusal
rate by potential respondents in the winter of 1970 than
in the summer of 1972, and a higher rate of people not
home in 1972 than in 1970. This could have resulted in
the inclusion, or exclusion, of wives having some unac-
counted for characteristic which acted as a variable affect-
ing social and political involvement and political attitudes.

Another aspect of the methodological procedures which
could have resulted in the discrepancies in the findings
is three of the measuring devices used, namely, the Social
and Political Activity Indexes and the Ideological Spec-

trum. It is of utmost importance that all measuring devices

94

be reliable and valid, that they truly measure what they
claim to measure. The Spectrum, as discussed in the fourth
chapter, deals with two separate attitudinal dimensions
which might be best tapped by use of a different index
and more numerous items; i. e. a larger battery of items.
Not only did the effect of employment on political
activity not run in the expected direction in 1972, but
also the response rates of these wives were noticeably

lower than the rates of the 1970 wives in many of the cate-

 

gories of the Political Activity Index. This reduced
involvement could be due to some variable in the social
climate of the times which made the 1972 wives more polit-
ically apathetic. Three such variables are the general
political climate throughout the nation, the more specific
political climate in Allentown, and a change in the views
of American women toward the government or political activ-
ity itself.

The political climate of the nation prior to and
during the presidential election of 1972 was one of dis-
interest and apathy. Only slightly more than a simple
majority of the electorate turned out to vote on Election
Day. For any conclusive statement to be made about the
effect of this national mood on the political activity
rates of the Allentown sample, the rates of activity of
the total national population of wives should be obtained

and the two sets of rates be compared to determine if the

95

Allentown sample is truly representative of the total
population.

One factor which adds credence to the possibility that
the 1972 sample had lower political activity rates because
of an increased distrust toward the government is seen in
the higher agreement rates of the 1972 sample to the sphere
of government dimension of the Ideological Spectrum. These
responses reveal a growing concern toward governmental en-
croachment into areas not directly its concern and there-
fore could have been a factor contributing to decreased
political involvement.

During the two-year period between the samples, the
Women's Movement in the United States was gaining momentum.
One of the goals of this Movement was to increase the
political awareness and involvement of American women.
There may be an increased number of women in the political
or governmental process itself - holding elective and
appointive political offices, being members of political
boards and committees -— but the majority of women, espec-
ially middle-aged, white, high school-educated, middle-class
housewives, may still remain comparatively unaware and
uninvolved in political happenings. The findings of this
study, especially the 1972 data, show that this may be the
case.

Implicit in this reconsideration of methodological

procedures are several avenues of inquiry that may prove

 

a».

 

96

useful for future research. Because the study findings
were not stable over time, certain aspects of this research
may merit further investigation. There are broader impli-
cations of the results of this study and of the general
study variables, namely employment, social activity, and
political activity and ideology, which also deserve

further research.

Suggestions for Future Research

The one finding of this study which deserves further
investigation most is that which is evident from the data
in Table 3 (in the third chapter). These figures demon-
strate that non-employed wives maintained their levels of
social activity form 1970 to 1972, while the levels of the
employed wives fluctuated. Employment status may, there-
fore, be a variable which cannot be totally separated from
social activity. The two may be more interrelated than
thought.

Both employment and social involvement remove the
wife from social isolation in the home and increase her
social contacts and networks of social relationships in
the general society. These two variables may act in con-
junction to affect political involvement. Instead of com-
paring the political activity rates of non-employed and
employed wives, perhaps we should compare the rates of

socially non-active or active non-employed wives to the

 

 

l9h.

 

 

9?

rates of socially non-active or active employed wives.
This proposition merits future research.

The discrepancy in the results of this study or, more
specifically, the lower social and political activity rates
of the 1972 wives and their increased distrust of govern-
mental power was unexpected. The most obvious method which
would shed some light on this would be to requestion the
1972 sample respondents and ask them directly why they were
not politically involved or interested and why they had

 

such low regard for the federal government. This action
is highly unfeasible, however.

A reconstruction of what was happening locally and
nationally in both social and political spheres would cer-
tainly lay to rest the proposal that these occurences are
what caused the discrepancies in the study findings. As
mentioned in the previous section, the different rates of
social and political activity and attitudinal responses
in 1970 and 1972 may be a clue to the discrepancies, but a
further analysis of this specific data is also unfeasible
because the number of cases in each of the response cate-
gories of the various indexes is too small.

There is no simple solution for discovering why the
1972 findings came out the way they did. One direction to
take, however, is to investigate the total concepts of
social and political activity using employment as a re-

lated variable. A relevant avenue of investigation is to

 

 

98

examine these concepts as applied to women.
The fact that employment increases the wife's social

relationships and networks has been mentioned several times.

 

This has always been accepted as being true for men. An
interesting question is: Are these social relationships
and networks of the same nature for both men and women?

If so, this lessens the argument that employed wives
should develop political attitudes different from those of

their husband. If they, too, are employed outside the home,

 

they may be subjected to the same type of attitudinal in-
fluences that their husbands are. A variable which would
have to be controlled in an investigation of this supposi-

tion is type of employment. Working women are concentrated

 

in rather specific job categories, many of which are basi-
cally ”female jobs”. Being concentrated in different types
of occupations may mean being involved in different types
of social relationships and networks and, therefore, devel-
oping political attitudes different from males, especially
husbands.

Women's studies have become fashionable: despite this
trend, such studies are useful because the role of women
in American society, and how they accept this role, is
gradually undergoing alteration - and has been under-
studied. Social and political awareness and involvement
and employment outside the home, as aspects of this role,

are also being subjected to change. Studies, especially

 

A!”

 

 

99

longitudinal ones, dealing with these variables, as this
thesis attempted to do, would lead to valuable insights
into the changing role of women and how this change is

affecting society. in general.

 

mg

 

FOOTNOTES

1Charlotte Robinson, ”How Women Make Up Their Politigal
Minds,” Detroit Free Press, August 26, 1973. sec. D, p. 1 .

2Examples include Lipset's Political Mag, Elderveld
et al's "Research in Political Behavior“ in Political Behav-
Ior, and Campbell, et al's, The American Voter.

3Robert Lane, Political Lifg (Glencoe, Illinois: The
Free Press, 1959). p. 215.

“In 1990 approximately 3,000 people in Erie County,
Ohio were interviewed. This group resembled the total city
population in age, sex, residence, education, telephone
and car ownership, and nativity.

5Paul F. Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet,
The People's Choice (New York: Columbia University Press,
1960), pp. E8:b9.

6Seymour M. Lipset, Politiggl_Man: The Social Baggg
of Politics (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc.,
1959), p. 190.

7Elihu Katz and Paul F. Lazarsfeld, "Personal Influence,“
in Heinz Eulau, Samuel J. Eldersveld, and Morris Janowitz,
Politicgl Behavior (Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1956),
Pp. 1&9‘1 SOs

8Lane, p. 69.

 

9These studies include William Erbe,'Social Involvement
and Political Activity: A Replication and Elaboration,”
Lane's Political:Life, Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba's
The Civic Culture, and Herbert Maccoby's "Differential Polit-
ical Activity of Participants in a Voluntary Association.”

1°J. Allen Williams, Jr., Nicholau Babchuk, and David
R. Johnson, ”Voluntary Associations and Minority Status: A
Comparative Analysis of Anglo, Black, and Mexican Americans,”
The American Sociological Review, 38 (October 1973). p. 637.

100

 

 

101

11Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Volume II,
trans. by Henry Reeve (New York: D. Appleton and Company,
Ines. 190“), pa 602s

12Maccoby, American Sociolggica;_8eview, 23 (October
1958): Pp- Szu'SBZO ‘

13Lipset, p. 196 and Robert K. Merton, Social Theory and
Social Structure (Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1956),
pp. 387-E20.

1“Lazarsfeld, Berelson, and Gaudet, p. 150.
15Lane, p. 83.

16John C. Scott, Jr., “Membership and Participation in
Voluntary Associations," American Sociological Review, 22
(June 1957). pp. 315-326.

17Alva Myrdal and Viola Klein, Women's Two Roles: Home
and Work, (London: Routledge a Kegan Paul Ltd., 1956),p. 14?.

18Bernard R. Berelson, Paul F. Lazarsfeld, and William
N. McPhee, Voting (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,
195u)s p0 9 0

19It is conceded that there are some jobs which do not
allow the worker to have much social interaction with his
fellow workers and that some hosewives have various oppor-
tunities for interaction with other people throughout the
day, e. g. with clerks at the supermarket or in department
stores, with door-to-door salesmen, neighbors, or friends
or relatives who might happen to drop by. But these contacts
are not likely to be the type which would bring the indivi-
dual into contact with opinion leaders.

29?. Ivan Nye and Lois Wladis Hoffman, The Em lo ed
Mother in America (Chicago: Rand McNally and Co., 1933).

p. 368.
21This statement is confirmed by Scammon and Wattenberg.
2zLipset, pp. 207-208.

23One such study is Free and Cantril's The Political
Beliefs of Americans.

2”Samuel J. Eldersveld, Alexander Heard, Samuel P. Hunt-
ington, Morris Janowitz, Avery Leiserson, Dayton D. McKean,
and David D. Truman, “Research in Political Behavior,” in
Eulau, Eldersveld, and Janowitz, p. 7“.

 

 

102

25Robinson, p. 1. This article also reports that the
1971 Harris poll for Virginia Slim cigarrets found that 69
percent of its female respondents reported that ”they didn't
vote the way their husbands told them."

26Angus Campbell, Philip E. Converse, Warren E. Miller,
and Donald E. Stokes, The American Voter (New York: John
Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1960), p. 78:

27James G. March, "Husband-Wife Interaction Over Polit—
ical Issues,“ Public Opinion Quarterly, 17 (Winter 1953),
ppe u6l-u7os

 

 

28Edward C. Banfield, The Unheavenly City, (Boston: f r
Little, Brown and Company, 1968). '

29Several comprehensive studies which discuss the effects 3
of these characteristics include Voting and The Pegple's ‘
Choice (election survey studies that include discussions of
the characteristics of the voter) and Political Man and Polit-
ical Life (which discuss social characteristics of the polit-

Ically involved) and The Joiners which is a comprehensive
study of the socially act ve.

30Joan W. Moore, "Patterns of Women's Participation in
Voluntary Associations," American Journal of Sociology, 67
(May 1961). PP. 594-595.

31Lipset, pp. 200-202.

32This statement may also be applied to housewives who
are not socially active or employed outside of the home.
Many of these wives are not fully integrated into the organ-
ized social life of the adult community and do not feel
social pressures or obligations to vote or pursue other
politically-oriented activities.

33Two of these studies include Williams (mentioned prev-
iously) and Nicholas Babchuk and Ralph V. Thompson, "The
Voluntary Associations of Negroes," American Sociological
Review, 27 (October 1962), pp. 697-655. An important note
about these findings is that although blacks have high rates
of social involvement, this involvement tends to occur in
all-black organizations and associations rather than in
wider societal or community organizations.

3“Williams, p. 6&4.

 

35The only differences in the literature are that some
studies stress one or two of the three components more than
the others. Education seems to have the strongest effect
on rates of participation.

103

36Floyd Dotson, ”Patterns of Voluntary Association
Among Urban Working—Class Families,“ Aperican Sociological
Review, 16 (October 1951). p. 692.

 

37Young and Wilmott found this pattern in Family and
Kinship in East London as did Dotson in his study.

38Lane, p. 23h.
39Erbe, p. 200.
uoRoy C. Macridis and Robert F. Ward, eds., Modern

Political Systems: EurOpe (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Pren-
tice-Hall, Inc., 1968), p. 159.

 

ulHausknecht, p. 126.

uzThis opening line was ”Hi, I'm a student from Moravian
College” (for the 1970 study) or "Hi, I'm a graduate student
working on my Master's thesis” (for the 1972 study) and ”I
wonder if you and your husband (or wife) could spare a few
minutes to answer some questions for me.”

“3These income figures were chosen as being most rep-
resentative of middle-class income figures at that time.

Quin several instances it was necessary to extend the
interview to item 14 because, to gain entry to the home for
the interview, the interviewer had to explain that the study
being conducted dealt with political participation and, there-
fore, felt obligated to ask the wife several questions deal-
ing with political participation.

“Shausknecht, p. 112.

uéThomas E. Lasswell, Class and Stratum (New York: Hough-
ton Mifflin Company, 1965), p. 126.

“7Erbe. p. 201.

uaJulian Woodward and Elmo Roper, "Political Activity of
American Citizens, ” in Eulau, Eldersveld, and Janowitz, p. 136.

#9 Lane, p. 76.
5°Lyoyd A. Free and Hadley Cantril, The Political figliefs

1

of Americans (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press,
1937). p. 5.

51Free and Cantril, p. 5.

 

 

 

109

52This was substantiated statistically. In a compar-
ison of the political activity rates of the 1970 non-
employed and employed wives, a resultant F score was 21.12
with 1, 71 df. At the .05 level of confidence, F = 3.99,
demonstrating a signifcant difference between the groups.
The resultant F score for the 1972 non-employed and employed
wives was 0.79 with 1, 66 df. At the .05 level of confi-
dence, F 8 9.00. No significant difference exists between
these groups.

53Free and Cantril, p. 9.

suFor the five items to form a valid scale, the coef-
ficient of reproducibility, which ranges from 0.00 to 1.00,
must be greater than 0.90. For the items to form a cumula-
tive scale, the coefficient of scalability, which also ranges
from 0.00 to 1.00, must be greater than 0.60. Since the
coefficient of reproducibility is less than 0.90 and the
coefficient of scalability is less than 0.60, the Ideolog-
ical Spectrum is not a cumulative or a valid scale.

SKA comparison of the total sample of wives by employ-
ment status was not made because by combining the 1970 and
1972 non-employed wives into one group and the 1970 and 1972
employed wives into one group, the differences between the
two year groups for both employment groups (as shown in
Table 6) are lessened. This would distort the total pic-
ture of a comparison of the groups. An intervening variable
appears to be present and this variable results in a distor-
tion of differences between non-employed and employed wives.
When the responses of all non-employed wives are compared
to the responses of all employed wives, there are slight
differences for dimension one (6 and 3 percent) and signifi-
cant differences for dimension two (22, 22, and 16 percent).
This is comparable to the differences for the 1970 non-employed
and employed wives. Combining the two year samples into
total non-employed and employed groups thus camoflauges dis-
tinctions which exist between the two years.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Almond, Gabriel and Sidney Verba, The Ciyic Culture, Prince-
ton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1963.

Babchuk, Nicholas and Ralph V. Thompson, "The Voluntary
Associations of Negroes," American Sociological Re-
view, 27, (October 1962), pp. 697-655.

Banfield, Edward C., The Unheavenly City, Boston: Little,
Brown and Company, 1968.

 

Berelson, Bernard R., Paul F. Lazarsfeld, and William N.
McPhee, Voting, Chicago: The University of Chicago
Press, 195 .

Campbell, Angus, Philip E. Converse, Warren E. Miller, and
Donald E. Stokes, The American Voter, New York: John
Wily & Sons, Inc., 1960.

De Tocqueville, Alexis, Democrapy in America, Volume II,
Translated by Henry Reeve, New York: D. Appleton
and Company, Inc., 1909.

Dotson, Floyd, "Patterns of Voluntary Association Among
Urban Working-Class Families ” American Sociolog'-
cal Review, 16 (October 1951 . pp.‘687-693.

Eulau, Heinz, Samuel J. Eldersveld, and Morris Janowitz,
Political Behavior, Glencoe, Illinois: The Free
Press, 1955:

Free, Lloyd A. and Hadley Cantril, The Political Beliefs of
Americans, New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University
Press, 1967.

Gruberg, Martin, Women in American Politics} An Assessment
and Sourcebook, Oshkosh, Wisconsin: Academia Press, 1968.

Hausknecht, Murray, The Joiners, New York: The Bedminster

 

105

 

 

106

Hyman, Herbert H. and Charles R. Wright, “Trends in Volun-
tary Association Membership of American Adults:
Replication Based on Secondary Analysis of National
Sample Surveys," American Sociological Review, 36,
(April 1971). PP. 19i-206.

Hyman, Herbert and Charles Wright, "Voluntary Association
Membership of American Adults: Evidence From National
Sample Surveys," American Sociological Review, 23,
(April 1958), pp. 288-289.

Katelman: Doris K. and Larry D. Barnett, "Work Orientations .
of Urban, Middle-Class, Married Women,” Journal of 3
Marriage and the Family, 30 (February 1968), pp. 80-88. '

 

Kornhauser, William, The Politlgs of Mass Society, Glencoe,
Illinois: The Free Press of Glencoe, 1959.

 

Kruschke, Earl Roger, The Woman Voter: An Analysis Based
Upon Personal Interviews, Washington, D.C.: Annals
of American Government, Public Affairs Press, 1955.

Lane, Robert E., Political Life, Glencoe, Illinois: The
Free Press, 1959.

Lasswell, Thomas E., Class and Stratum, New York: Houghton
Mifflin Company, 1965.

Lazarsfeld, Paul F., Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet,
The PeOple's Choice, New York: Columbia University
Press, 1960.

Lipset, Seymour M., Political Man: The SocisllBases of
Politics, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company,
Ines 9 1959s

Maccoby, Herbert, ”Differential Political Activity of Par-
ticipants in a Voluntary Association,” Americap»Soc-
iological Review, 23 (October 1958), pp. 529-532.

 

Macridis, Roy C. and Robert F. Ward, eds., Modern Political
Systemg: Europe, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-
Hall, Inc., 1968,

March, James G., ”Husband-Wife Interaction Over Political
Issues,” Puplic Qpinionlguarterl , 17 (Winter 1953),
PP. 961-970.

Merton, Robert K., Soclal Theory_and Social_Structure, Glen-
coe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1956.

107

Milbrath, Lester W., Political Particlpationl How and Why
Do People Get Involved in PolLtics?, Chicago: Rand
McNaliy & Company, 1965.

 

Moore, Joan W., “Patterns of Women's Participation in Volun-
tary Associations,“ American Journal of Sociology, 67
(May 1961). pp. 599-595.

Myrdal, Alva and Viola Klein, Women's Two Roles: Home and
Work, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1956:

Nye, F. Ivan and Lois Wladis Hoffman, The Employed Mother
in America, Chicago: Rand McNally and Co., 1963.

Robinson, Charlotte, "How Women Make Up Their Political
Minds," Detroit Free Press, August 26, 1973. Sec. D,
p. 1 .

 

Scammon, Richard M. and Ben J. Wattenberg, The Real Majority,
Berkeley: Berkeley Publishers, 1972.

 

Scott, Jr., John C., ”Membership and Participation in Volun-
tary Associations,” American Sociological Review, 22

(June 1957). pp. 315-326.

Seagreaves, Diane E., ”Political Activity and Ideology of
Married Women,” unpub. Honors Thesis, Moravian
College, 1970.

Williams, J. Allen, Jr., Nicholau Babchuk, and David R.
Johnson, “Voluntary Associations and Minority Status:
A Comparative Analysis of Anglo, Black, and Mexican
Americans,“ American Sociological fReview, 38 (October
1973): PD. 637 “3&6:

Young, Michael and Peter Willmott, Fgmily and Kinship in
East London, Baltimore, Maryland: Penguin Books, 1957.

 

 

 

 

APPENDICES

108

 

 

109

APPENDIX A

 

number page 1
WIFE’S QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Were you born in this country? yes no
2. Into which of the following age categories do you fall?
1, under 35
2. 35-44
3e 45-54
4e 55'65
5. over 65
3. Are you a high school graduate? yes no
4. Do you own or rent your home? own rent

5. Are you presently employed outside the home?

1.

2.

no
Have you been employed within the past 5 years?
1. yes
2. no
Have you sought employment within the past year?
__ yes __ no
yes __ part-time _-___ full-time

 

110 page 2

6. What is your husband's occupation?

 

Where does he work?

 

1. executive or prOprietor of large concern; major professional
2. manager or proprietor of smaller business; lesser professional
3. administrative personnel of large concern; owner of small
independent business; semi-professional
4. owner of little business; clerical or sales worker; technician
S. skilled worker
6. semi-skilled worker
7. unskilled worker
7. What is the last grade or year your husband completed in school?
1. graduate professional training
2. college graduate
3. partial college training ( completed at least one year )
4. high school graduate
5. partial high school
6. junior high school ( 7th, 8th, or 9th )

7. less than 7 years of school
scone (18-63)

8. Do you belong to any political organizations? EXAMPLES
1, no
2, yes How many?
How many hours per month would you say you devote to
these organizations?
Do you hold any offices in these organizations?
1. no

2. yes How many?

m

 

 

9._

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

111 page 3

Do you belong to any other organizations or associations?
SHOW LIST or EXAMPLES
1. no

2. yes How many?

 

How many hours per month would you say you devote to
these organizations?

Do you hold any offices in these organizations?

1, no
2. yes How many?
Are you presently a registered voter?
1. yes (2)
2. no Have you ever been registered in the past?

yes (1) no

3. Have you voted within the past 2 years? yes no

In the past 4 years would you say you have voted
1. never
2. occasionally (1)
3. frequently (2)
Have you written or talked to a Congressman or other public
official in the past year?
1. no
2. yes __ once (1) __ more than once (2)
Have you attended any political rallies in the past 2 years?
__ no __ yes (1)
Have you made any financial contributions to a political candidate

or party in the past 2 years?

no yes (1)

 

15. Have

112 page 4

you worked for the election of a political candidate in

the past 4 years?

1.

2.

16. When
1.
2.

3.

no

yes What type of work did you do?

 

1. no direct public contact (1)
2. indirect public contact (2)
3. direct public contact (3)
you read a magazine or newspaper do you
skip articles about politics
read articles if in magazine or newSpaper regularly read (1)

seek out articles ar books about politics (2)

17. Would you say that you discuss public issues with your family.

friends, or associates

1.
2.
3.
18. In a
1.
2.
3.
1.
19. Have

1.

2.

never
occasionally (1)
frequently (2)
conversation about politics would you say that you
have your own Opinions but just listen
mostly listen but do inject your own Opinions now and then (1)
take an equal part in the conversation (2)
take part and try to convince others your views are right (3)
you ever held a local or national political office?
no
Have you ever run for such an office? ___,no ____yes (2)
yes

Was this office elective (3) .___ appointive (1)

*

 

 

 

113 page 5

20. I'm going to read several statements you sometimes hear. and

ask whether, in general, you agree. disagree. or are not sure.

1. The Federal Government is interfering too much in state

3.

4.

5.

and local matters.

agree ' disagree not sure

'The government has gone too far in regulating business

and interfering with the free enterprise system.
__ agree __ disagree __ not sure

Social problems here in this country could be solved more
effectively if the government would only keep its hands

off and let peOple in local communities handle their own
problems in their own ways.

_ agree __ disagree __ not sure

Generally speaking. any ablewbodied person who really wants
to work in this country can find a Job and earn a living.
__ agreed __ disagree __ not sure

We should rely more on individual initiative and ability
and not so much on governmental welfare programs.

agree disagree not sure

- *- _

SCORE: agrees

disagrees

*

not sures

 

 

 

number

11“
page 6

 

EWSBANQfS QUESTIONNAIRE

I'm going to read several statements you sometimes hear, and ask

whether, in general, you agree, disagree. or are not sure.

1..

3.

4.

5.

The Federal Government is interfering too much in state
and local matters.

____agree ‘___ disagree .___ not sure

The government has gone too far in regulating business and

interfering with the free enterprise system.

agree disagree not sure

Social problems here in this country could be solved more
effectively if the government would only keep its hands
off and let peOple in local communities handle their own
problems in their own way.

___ agree ____disagree ___ not sure

Generally speaking, any able—bodied person who really wants
to work in this country can find a job and earn a living.
__ agree __ disagree ____ not sure

We should rely more on individual initiative and ability
and not so much on governmental welfare pragrams.

agree ‘___ disagree ___ not sure

SCORW: agrees

.fin—n

disagrees

not sures

 

115

number

INDIVIDUAL TALLY SHTTT

Employment Status
___,working
___,not working
.___ worked in past five years

sought employment

Social Activity Score
____ inactive
.___ active
___ very active
Political Activity Score
inactive
.___ active
____ very active
Liberalism—Conservatism Status of Wife
__ liberal
___ middle-of-thevroad
.___ conservative
Liberalism-Conservatism Status of Husband
__ liberal
middle-of-the—road

conservative

page 7

 

 

 

116

APPENDIX B

Political Actiyity Scale

Score
1. Read About Politics
0 1. skip articles about politics
1 2. read articles if in magazine or newspaper reg-

ularly read
2 3. seek out articles or books about politics f

2. Discuss Public Issues With Others

 

0 1. never J
1 2. occasionally I
2 3. frequently

3. Attempt to Influence Political Views of Others

0 1. have own Opinions but Just listen

1 2. mostly listen but do inject own opinions now
and then

2 3. take an equal part in the conversation

3 u. take part and try to convince others your

views are right

h. Registered to Vote

0 1. never
1 2. was in past but not presently
2 3. am presently

5. Voting (number of times in past 4 years)

0 1. never

p.-

2. occasionally

N

3. frequently

117

 

§22££ 6. Written or Talked to Congressman or Other Public
Official (in past year)
0 1. no
1 2. once
2 3. more than once
7. Attend Political Rallies (in past 2 years)
0 1. no I
1 2. yes
8. Belong to Organizations That are Politically Relevant
1. number of memberships
O a. O
1 b. 1 - 3
2 c. b and over
2. frequency of attendance at meetings (hours per month)
1 a. 1 - 5
2 b. 6 - 9
3 c. 10 and over
3. offices held
1 a. 1 - 2
2 b. 3 and over
9. Financial Contributions to Party or Candidate (past
two years)
0 1. no
1 2. yes

10. Worked for Election Of a Political Candidate (2 years)
1 1. no direct public contact
2 2. indirect public contact
3 3. direct public contact

Score

uni-‘0

11.

118

Ran for Political Office

1.
2.

3.
1+.

never held or ran for a political office
held an appointive political Office
ran for elective office

held elective office

 

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