Association With Confidence In Organized Labor example essay topic

INTRODUCTION Statement of problem People have opinions and thoughts about many issues relating to the work force. They wonder what is the best occupation to get in, how much money they can make in certain fields, who the best employers might be. Some of the big concerns people have when thinking about employment is benefits. What can a company provide to the potential employee in terms of insurance, vacations, advancement, and all the extras associated with the perks of certain companies? At the time do these people wonder about the organizations that may have a say in those benefits they so covet.

The labor unions Through my research I have found very little information that deals with confidence in organized labor. Most of the data that I have obtained is more closely related to unions in general than to the people who have confidence in them; and I will attempt to ascertain whether people have confidence in organized labor, not whether they approve or disapprove of labor unions. With the little information that I was able to obtain in this quest, I suggest that this research would be beneficial to sociology by presenting more information on the topic of confidence in organized labor and giving sociologists a platform from which to proceed with further research in this area. Objectives One objective of this paper is to determine whether there is confidence in organized labor.

Another objective is to ascertain whether there is an association between certain independent variables relating to the level of confidence in organized labor. LITERATURE REVIEW The topic of confidence in organized labor is an expansive subject which can be studied from the perspectives of many different variables. What I want to know is what others have written about confidence in organized labor, how the different variables of my research react to unions, whether there are any reasons they feel this way, what the unions are doing to gain confidence, and whom they are likely to target for membership. I have read that education may affect the way people feel toward unions (Sares, 1991).

Meikasins and Smith's (1993) article about how professionals are not as unionized as their industrious counterparts tend to show an association about income and confidence. (Most professionals earn more than industry workers.) One of the areas of my research is race (Wilson, 1989): does this variable have any association with confidence in organized labor? Another focus of in my research is whether sex can attribute to one's view on labor unions (Sares). Do men or women have the greater confidence in organized labor?

What has been done by the labor unions to gain people's confidence, and what groups have they targeted most (Cosco)? Are there any factors, such as the economy, that contribute to a person's confidence in labor unions (Dalesio)? The research that I have reviewed will be used to assist me in determining how confidence in organized labor is associated with the independent variables that I will be using. METHODOLOGY Data In 1972, the General Social Survey (GSS) began collecting data from a random national sample of adults 18 and older. The people interviewed had participated in National Opinion Research Center (NOR) national samples. All of the participants were English-speaking and lived in non-institutional settings within the United States.

The general purpose of GSS is to collect information on society and use this data to observe and explain any trends or changes in behaviors. For a modest fee and within a reasonable time period, the results are made accessible to people wishing to use the information. In 2000 the GSS interviewed nearly 3,000 non-institutionalized adults. The sample was chosen by using a multistage, stratified probability sampling design. This method was chosen so that each participant in the target area would have an equal probability of being chosen. The data gathered from these approximately ninety-minute in-person interviews will be used to assist in this research.

Seventy percent of the samples contacted by the GSS responded. The data used in this research was obtained from the GSS. It came from the spring of 2001 survey. The code book was used to select the dependent variable and independent variables for this research. Analytic Strategy Data gathered from this research was analyzed using SPSS.

With the SPSS program the dependent variable, confidence in organized labor, was recoded as were the independent variables; income level, amount of education, and race. The independent variable sex was not recoded. After the variables were recoded frequencies were made using SPSS. SPSS was used for between the recoded dependent variable and the recoded independent variables and the non-recoded independent variable, sex. A Chi-square test was also run to determine the association between the dependent variable and the independent variables. using be analyzed using frequencies, chi-square, and recoding where deemed necessary. MEASUREMENT Variables The dependent variable in this research is confidence in organized labor.

This is an ordinal level of measurement. The original values for this variable were 0 = NAP, 1 = A GREAT DEAL, 2 = ONLY SOME, 3 = HARDLY ANY, 8 = DK, 9 = NA This variable was recoded with the new values 1 = A GREAT DEAL, 2 = ONLY SOME, 3 = HARDLY ANY, 999 = ALL OTHER VALUES. The independent variables to be used are the following: o sex, a nominal level of measurement with the values of 1 = MALE, 2 = FEMALE. This variable was not recoded. This variable was used to see if males have more confidence in organized labor or if females have more confidence in organized labor. It was also used to see if there was any association between sex and confidence in organized labor. o amount of education, an ordinal level of measurement with the original values of 0 = LT HIGH SCHOOL, 1 = HIGH SCHOOL, 2 = JUNIOR COLLEGE, 3 = BACHELOR, 4 = GRADUATE, 7 = NAP, 8 = DK, 9 = NA.

This variable was recoded with the new values 1 = HIGH SCHOOL, 2 = JUNIOR COLLEGE. 3 = BACHELOR, 4 = GRADUATE, 999 = ALL OTHER VALUES. This variable was recoded with the new values 1 = LESS THAN $25000, 2 = $25000 OR MORE, 999 = ALL OTHER VALUES. This variable was used to see which value had the most confidence in organized labor and to determine if there was any association between income and confidence in organized labor; o race, a nominal level of measurement with the original values of 0 = NAP, 1 = WHITE, 2 = BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN, 3 = AMERICAN INDIAN OR ALASKA NATIVE, 4 = ASIAN INDIAN, 5 = CHINESE, 6 = FILIPINO, 7 = JAPANESE, 8 = KOREAN, 9 = VIETNAMESE, 10 = OTHER ASIAN, 11 = NATIVE HAWAIIAN, 12 = GUAMANIAN OR CHAMORRO, 13 = SAMOAN, 14 = OTHER PACIFIC ISLANDER, 15 = SOME OTHER RACE, 16 = HISPANIC, 98 = DK, 99 = NA. This variable was recoded with the values of 1 = WHITE, 2 = BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN, 3 = OTHER RACE, 999 = ALL OTHER VALUES. This variable was used to see if one race had more confidence in organized labor, and to determine whether there was any association between race and confidence in organized labor.

All of these variables are subject to recoding. Hypotheses There is no association between income level and confidence in organized labor. There is no association between gender and confidence in organized labor. There is no association between amount of education and confidence in organized labor. There is no association between race and confidence in organized labor. RESULTSFINDINGSFrequenciesThis section discusses the frequency distribution of my variables. the results show that 11.7 percent of respondents have a great deal of confidence in organized labor; 63.9 percent have only some confidence in organized labor; and 24.4 percent have hardly any confidence in organized labor.

CrosstabulationsIn this section, I will discuss the cross tabulations of the independent variables and the dependent variable. Table 1 ATable 1 A shows the cross tabulation between income and respondent's confidence in organized labor. The results show that 9.7% of respondents earning less than $25,000 have a great deal of confidence in organized labor; and 11.7% of respondents with earning $25,000 or more have the same level of confidence. Table 1 BTable IB is the results of the Chi-square test of association between income and confidence in organized labor.

Since the Pearson Chi-Square significance is. 564 (and greater than the alpha significance level of. 05). I fail to reject my null hypothesis. Therefore, there is no association between income and respondents' confidence in organized labor.

Table 2 A Table 2 A shows the cross tabulation between sex and respondents' confidence in organized labor. The results show that 14.2% of males have a great deal of confidence in organized labor; and 9.7% of women have the same view. Table 2 BTable 2 B is the results of the Chi-square test of association between sex and confidence in organized labor. 007 (and less than the significance level of.

05). I reject my null hypothesis. Therefore, there is an association between sex and confidence in organized labor. Table 3 ATable 3 A shows the cross tabulation between respondents' highest degree of education and confidence in organized labor. The results show 11.0% of respondents with a high school education have a great deal of confidence in organized labor; and 6.3% respondents with a junior college education had the same level of confidence, 13.0% of respondents with a bachelor degree also felt this way, and likewise did 6.7% of respondents with a graduate degree. Table 3 BTable 3 B is the results of the Chi-square test of association between education and confidence in organized labor.

596 (and greater than the significance level of. 05). Therefore, there is no association between education and confidence in organized labor. Table 4 ATable 4 A shows the cross tabulation between race and confidence in organized labor. The results show that 11.6% of white respondents have a great deal of confidence in organized labor; 14.2% of black or African American respondents have the same view; and 7.7% of other races also.

Table 4 BTable 4 B is the results of the Chi-square test of association between respondents' race and confidence in organized labor. 404 (and greater than the significance level of. 05). I fail to reject the null hypothesis. Therefore, there is no association between race and confidence in organized labor. DISCUSSION The purpose of this research was to find if confidence in organized labor existed and to find if certain variables were associated with the level of confidence.

In my review of work done by others on the topic dealing with organized labor the researchers point out how certain groups feel more strongly one way or the other concerning labor unions. I will address the previous researchers findings compared with the findings of this research. One key finding in this research is that there is an association between sex and organized labor. This was the only independent variable to show an association in level of confidence in organized labor. The research shows that more men than women have a great deal of confidence in organized labor.

While there is no association between race and confidence in organized labor more white respondents than black or African American or other races had a greater deal of confidence in organized labor. Respondents who earned $25,000 or more had more confidence than those earning less than $25,000 and those respondents with only a high school education had more confidence than those with a college education. The results seem to point out, even though 3 of the 4 variables showed no association with confidence in organized labor, than white males with a high school education earning $25,000 or more have the most confidence in organized labor. CONCLUSION This research was to determine if confidence in organized labor existed.

The completion of this research has determined that there is confidence in organized labor, however, this research has determined that more respondents had only some or hardly any confidence in organized labor than those respondents whom had a great deal of confidence in organized labor. This research has determined that only one of the independent variables, sex, had any association with confidence in organized labor. The other independent variables income, race, and education had no association with confidence in organized labor. The cross tabulation results showed that most of the respondents had only some or hardly any confidence in organized labor.

One way to expound on this research would be to determine what it is about organized labor that the respondents do not have confidence in. Another aspect of research that could follow this research would be to look into the different variables and see how they are associated with each other. An example would be how many white males with a high school education have a great deal of confidence in organized labor.

Bibliography

Cosco, Joe. (1989).
Unions: polishing a tarnished image. Public Relations Journal, 45 (2). 17-21. Dalesio, Emery P. (1991).
Recession-weary workers don't flock to unions for security. Indianapolis Business Journal, 12, (36) 52 A. General Social Surveys, 1972-1998: Codebook Variable: CON LABOR.
2004).
Chicago, IL: National Opinion Research Center. Meiksins, Peter, and Chris Smith. (1993).
Why American engineers aren't unionized: A comparative perspective. Theory & Society, 22, (1), 57-97. Sares, Timothy A. (1998).
Sociopolitical Viewpoints as Narrated by Family and Educational Background. Journal of Social Psychology, 138 (5), 637-645. Wilson, France lle Rus an. (1989).