Political Research Data

Visit the Web site of the American Sociological Association (www.asanet.org) or the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (www.icpsr.umich.edu). Review the publicly available data sets described at there and select one that interests you.

In Stephen Prothero’s Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know – and Doesn’t (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2008) 1 – 372, Prothero discusses how the American society was once a religiously literate nation, how we became religiously illiterate, and how (if willing) we can become religiously literate again. Prothero states that “this book argues for both the constitutionality and the necessity of teaching about religion in public schools and higher education.” He further explains that the main goal of this piece is to “help citizens participate fully in social, political, and economic life in a nation and world

James Fowler developed his stages of faith after conduction in-depth interviews of 359 people. The sample subjects were predominately white, with equal numbers of males and females and included a wide range of ages, from three and a half to 84 years old. Fowler’s interviews consisted of 30 plus questions regarding the subject’s life experiences, relationships, values, commitments and religion. After analyzing the responses, Fowler placed each subject in one of six faith stages. The responses indicated that as the subject’s age increased, so did their stage of faith (Hutchison, 2015).

The focal purpose of the article ‘Americans get an ‘F’ in religion’ by Cathy Lynn Grossman is to explain how ignorant Americans are when it comes to other religions around the world and their own. Religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs; a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons and sects. Being ignorant to something as vital as religion scares the author of this article

Pew Hispanic Center (2013), “Mapping the Latino Population, By State, County and City." Pew Research Center Hispanic Trends Project RSS. http://www.pewhispanic.org/2013/08/29/mapping-the-latino-population-by-state-county-and-city

The information is collected on percent of population that is black and percent of population that is Spanish speaking. The family income is divided by seven classes and the percent of the families in each of the classes, median yearly family income, median home value, median rent per month, percentage of the population with no cars, percentage of

127). This point is the first of emphasized three that seems worthy of its own chapter. While still maintaining that Americans are not polarized, Fiorina et al. give concessions to the opposition, recognizing their own speculation (p. 133). In addition to this, the authors included an appendix immediately after the chapter to clarify their charts. Although slightly different, this is reminiscent of the early chapters. The authors have rediscovered their confidence that had faltered in the two previous arguments. No longer relying on misrepresentations to paint a prettier picture, the authors instead trust in themselves enough to admit supposition and then defend it. Before getting into that, the authors begin by explaining that many scholars have identified a correlation between religion and voter identification (p. 128). What Fiorina et al. argue is that specific religions are not an indicator of specific political identification. Instead, they claim that it is the commitment of an individual to their religion, regardless of denomination, is the determining factor. This important distinction provides the authors with a base on which to build their

The average household income was $59,534.00. The college education attainment was 30.9% and the unemployment rate was 4.6%. The age category age of 18 under was 17% and above was 75%. The population growth was 22%. The percentage of White/Caucasian was 50.5%, Black/African-American was 23.7% percent and Hispanic/Latino was 43.8% percent.

Present US Census Data Related to the History of the Person’s Ethnic Group in the United States

Eighteen options were offered as choices for this question, excluding the categories of atheist and agnostic. The responses to each category have not been captured in the survey results, owing to certain privacy concerns. However, the percentage of none as a choice was calculated from the annual survey results. Moreover, the sample for this question excluded the Californians after 1997.

While Jews, Christians, and Catholics are received favorably in America, Muslims and Atheists are often received unkindly. According to research, evangelical Christians and Catholics are thought of more highly within their own groups than they are to the public. Not only this, but having a relative or a linkage with a particular religious group, means they are likely to have more positive views of that particular group. Shown in the Pew

The United States Census Bureau ‘s mission is “to serve as the leading source of quality data about the nation’s people and economy,” (needs citation/ located in the what we do page in the about the bureau) They collect data on population and housing, the economic, nature of local and state governments. The United State Census Bureau would be a great resource for government officials, teachers, students, businesses, and libraries. On the website, the user can search for information by either using the search bar or by clicking on the search tabs located at the top of the page. The user can browse the site by topics, geography, publications, data, surveys/programs, newsroom, and the about us section. Some of the special features are located right on the main page of the website where the user can see them. First, there is a population clock that contains both the US population as well as the world population. If the user clicks on the clock, they list the components of population change such as births per second, deaths, and international migrant. The page also has a list of the top 10 most populous countries. In addition, this page gives the user the ability to find out what the US population was on a specific date. Finally, the page has charts on the US population by growth, by region, by age and sex, and population by states, countries/cities. In addition to the population clock on the main page, there is a quick facts section where the user can look up by selecting a state and an economic indicator section, stat of the day, and a latest news section. For technical support, there is a FAQ page where the user can explore by browsing topics: top questions, 2000 and earlier, 2010 census, foreign trade, business statistics, etc. The user can also chat with a staff member online via chat or can submit a

For this report I have been exploring the Economic Census. I have learned what an Economic Census is and the ways that businesses use the censuses. I gained knowledge on what the NACIS is and how it’s used. I have learned more about the population of America and how business uses this knowledge on the population to their advantages. I also investigated links between the population growth and increased taxes and how technology is impacting businesses.

America as a whole has always been a largely religious nation since its birth in 1776 and since then Americans have generally retained this trend by “exhibiting high rates of religious belonging, behaving and believing” (Putnam, 2010, 7). This is the criteria that social scientists today take into consideration and analyze in order to determine one’s religiosity level, or how religious they are. Religiosity levels are plotted on a smooth gradient since there are the highly religious, the moderately religious, and the highly nonreligious with people evenly spaced in between. Depending on where on the scale an individual is ranked, social scientists can use this information to determine whether it is more or less probable for a person to uphold the qualities of good neighborliness. Similar to the varying levels of one’s religiosity, there are also many various religious traditions that all coexist within America, while simultaneously they are so different that there is a constant potential for conflicts and tension. The concept of good neighborliness can be broken down into the three major hallmarks of being a good neighbor starting with how generous the individual is, in both volunteer and philanthropic support. The involvement that a good neighbor displays stretches from the supportive side of community involvement to taking an active approach in the community through civic engagement. Lastly, how trusting an individual is of others and how trustworthy they appear to others

The descriptive statistics for the four continuous variables, namely median household income (in dollars), average years of schooling, average lifespan (in years), and average number of people per household are given in the following table: