NAME: ________________________________________________________
INTA 295 –Exercise #2
DUE at 12:20pm on Tuesday 2/3/09
[1] Launch SPSS & then click to open a data file. In the dialog box, open the Cross-National Datasets folder on the
L drive (L:\LS\Common\Faculty\POSC\Cross-National Datasets). Open the Political-Economic Indicators subfolder
and then open subfolder #33 (the Global05 dataset). Now open the SPSS data file (Global05 dataset.sav). Open the
Analyze drop-down menu; mouse over Regression and then click on Linear.
Examine the following causal debate using Regression analysis: “Telephone access leads to more accountable
governance. Specifically, countries with more telephone users per 100 people are likely to have higher expert
ratings of their government’s accountability to its citizenry. However, this is really a spurious relationship because
both variables are actually driven by national wealth: countries with higher levels of GDP per capita are likely to
have more telephone users and likely to have higher government accountability ratings.”
a] Draw a causal diagram of this argument using 132] GDPCAP PPP, 179] PHONES/100, & 287] VOICE-A:04.
Use the Regression Analysis task to test the above causal model. First, examine the relationship between telephone
users and government accountability.
b] What is the dependent variable? ______________________________
c] What is the value of the standardized Beta for the independent variable? __________
d] Is it statistically significant? (circle one): YES
NO
Now examine the relationship among all three variables – national wealth, Internet users and government
accountability.
e] What is the dependent variable? ____________________________________
f]
VARIABLE NAME
STD. BETA
STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT? (circle one)
_______________
__________
YES
NO
_______________
__________
YES
NO
g] What is the value of the adjusted R2? _____________
h] What is the estimate of statistical significance of this second model [ANOVA model 1]? _________________
i] Is the causal argument that GDP/capita is the antecedent variable and the source of a spurious relationship
between phone users and government accountability supported by the above information? (circle one) YES
j] On what grounds do you base the conclusion in [i] above? Be specific.
NO
[2] Using cross-national aggregate data in the GLOBAL05 dataset you decide to investigate the causes of intolerant
attitudes toward homosexuality. Specifically, what influences the percentage of people who say that they believe
that homosexual behavior is never acceptables? You conduct a regression analysis to investigate the question.
Interpret the following table. The DV is V#379.
VARIABLE
STANDARDIZED BETA
Catholicism [V#441]
(% of the population expressing Catholic religious
ties)
B = -.205*
GDPCAP PPP [V#132]
(GDP per person in purchasing power parity terms)
B = -.561**
Urbanization [V#22]
(% of the population living in urban areas)
B = -.116
Trust [V#392]
(% of the population expressing trust in most people)
B = -.237*
R2 = .663
p = .000
[a] State the hypotheses confirmed in this table.
[b] If you had to conduct this study, name another independent variable you would like to include. Then,
specify a theoretical justification linking this variable to variation in attitudes toward homosexuality. Finally, state
the hypothesis for this IV. {NOTE: This variable does not have to be available in the GLOBAL05 dataset.}