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Public Opinion of the US and Internet Usage. Amy Wozniak aw8813aa@student.american.edu http://eagle1.american.edu/~aw8813a/ American University School of International Service SIS-600-5: Int'l Affairs Stats & Methods – Dr. Assen Assenov. Research Question & Research Hypothesis.
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Public Opinion of the USand Internet Usage Amy Wozniak aw8813aa@student.american.edu http://eagle1.american.edu/~aw8813a/ American University School of International Service SIS-600-5: Int'l Affairs Stats & Methods – Dr. AssenAssenov
Research Question & Research Hypothesis • Research Question: What is the relationship between an individual’s attitude towards the US and internet use? • Research Hypothesis: Controlling for gender, age, Muslim majority country, and economic outlook, I expect that an individual who uses the Internet will be more open and have more favorable views of the US.
Literature Review • “Public Opinion regarding Economic and Cultural Globalization: Evidence from a Cross-National Survey” • Martin R. Edwards • Question: Do economic differences affect a persons view of globalization? • Findings : Attitudes about globalization are highly reliant on opinions about the economy • “Stratification and Global Elite Theory: A Cross-Cultural and Longitudinal Analysis of Public Opinion” • Roei Davidson, Nathaniel Poor and Ann Williams. • Question: Do global elites share similar positive opinions about globalization? • Findings : A “global elite” is not emerging, and homogenization is not occurring
Data • Pew Research Center Global Attitudes Survey • Conducted April 7 – May 8, 2010 • 22 countries surveyed • 22,927 respondents • Unit of analysis: Individual • Dependent variable : Attitude towards the US • Level of Measurement: Nominal • Independent variables: • Occasional Internet Use (Ordinal) • Economic Opinion (Ordinal) • Age (Interval Ratio) • Muslim majority country (Nominal) • Gender (Nominal)
Attitude towards the US 0 = Unfavorable opinion 1 = Favorable opinion Mode: 1 N = 22,927 Favorable Opinion: 59.2% Unfavorable Opinion: 40.8% Based on fact that we use large representative samples for each country and that the 22 countries are surveyed, we can make inference that 40.8% of world population has negative attitudes towards the US Countries Surveyed: Argentina Brazil Britain China Egypt France Germany India Indonesia Japan Jordan Kenya Lebanon Mexico Nigeria Pakistan Poland Russia South Korea Spain Turkey US
Bivariate Analysis StatisticsDependent Variable: Attitudes towards US (0=Unfavorable/1=Favorable)
Probit Regression Analysis, Marginal Effects. Dependent Variable: Dependent Variable: Attitude towards US 0=Unfavorable/1=Favorable
Findings & Policy Implications • Findings • Older males from Muslim majority countries with negative economic outlooks and no access to Internet have less favorable views of the US • Accept the Research Hypothesis • Based on this study, we accept the research hypothesis that controlling for gender, age, Muslim majority country, and economic outlook, I expect that an individual who uses the Internet will be more open and have more favorable views of the US. • Policy Implications • Public Diplomacy efforts should be concentrated towards older males in Muslim majority countries • Increasing access to the Internet can increase favorability by 2%