Russel-Research-Method-in-Anthropology

560 Chapter 19
TABLE 19.3d
Frequency Table of the Variable REDUCE
Count Cum. Count Percent Cum. Percent Variable REDUCE
5 5 16.7 16.7 2
1 6 3.3 20.0 3
13 19 43.3 63.3 4
11 30 36.7 100.0 5
TABLE 19.3e
Frequency Table of the Variable GUNGHO
Count Cum. Count Percent Cum. Percent Variable GUNGHO
4 4 13.3 13.3 1
9 13 30.0 43.3 2
5 18 16.7 60.0 3
11 29 36.7 96.7 4
1 30 3.3 100.0 5
Using a Distribution Table
One thing to look for in a frequency distribution is variability. If a variable
has no variability, then it is simply not of any further interest. If everyone in
this sample of respondents were the same gender, for instance, we wouldn’t
use GENDER in any further analysis. Looking carefully at the frequency distribution
is your first line of defense against wasting a lot of time on variables
that don’t vary.
We see from table 19.3a that 60% of the sample are men. Table 19.3b shows
that age is pretty evenly distributed. Table 19.3c shows that two-thirds of the
sample (20 out of 30) had more than a high school education and that 5 of the
30 had graduate degrees. Most people (24 out of 30) agreed or strongly agreed
with the statement that Americans are going to have to reduce consumption
drastically in the coming years (table 19.3d).
People were pretty evenly split, though, on whether environmentalists
would be so gung-ho if their jobs were threatened (table 19.3e): 13 people
either disagreed or strongly disagreed with that sentiment, and 12 people
either agreed or strongly agreed (5 were neutral).
Frequency distributions give you hints about how to collapse variables.
With 609 respondents in the full survey, we had plenty of responses to all