Predicting the Individuals’ job satisfaction and determining the factors affecting it using the CHAID Decision Tree Data Mining Algorithm Case Study: the National Opinion Research Center of the United States

As the general attitude of the individual about what he does, job satisfaction is the result of individual perceptions from the workplace and the factors and conditions in it; it is also influenced by his personality traits. Meanwhile, investigating job satisfaction is of great importance in advanced societies. The present study aimed to assess job satisfaction in the United States and evaluate the hypothesis of the existence of job dissatisfaction and the factors affecting it in the studied sample. The various social data, related to job satisfaction and collected by the National Opinion Research Center of the United States, are used in this study. The sample consists of different people including male and female samples from nine different states in the United States. For the purpose of this study, the patterns of data were discovered, and factors affecting job satisfaction were identified using the CHAID decision tree data mining method. Finally, it was found that a small percentage of people are dissatisfied with their job.

Public Opinion on the Harshness of Local Courts

Drawing on framing theory, the present study tests the impact of question wording on people’s reported opinions about the harshness of their local courts. A randomized experimental design tested two salient variations against the standard wording used in the National Opinion Research Center’s General Social Survey (GSS). The results indicated statistically significant differences, with fewer respondents expressing a desire for greater harshness with the alternative forms than the standard question form. Four of the five correlates that the authors examined also showed differential relationships with punitiveness among the question forms. These findings suggest that scholars should carefully consider the meaning of people’s responses when interpreting the GSS question as an indicator of public punitiveness.

Judeo-Christian Attitudes Toward Employed Women

The relationship between Judeo-Christian beliefs and attitudes toward employed women was examined. Participants ( N = 9,742) responded to the National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey (Davis & Smith, 1996a). Attitudes toward employed women varied by strength of religiosity, gender, religious affiliation, and year; as strength of religiosity increased, attitudes became more traditional. Men had more traditional attitudes than women. The women who are more religious had attitudes that were more conservative than less religious women. Christians had more traditional attitudes than Jews and the nonreligious. Between 1985 and 1996, attitudes became less traditional. These findings suggest that attitudes toward working women are changing in a gradual manner, but that men and women hold very different attitudes about working women, even within the same religious affiliation.

Electronically Available Surveys of Attitudes Toward Animals

Much of the research on attitudes toward non-human species has been conducted with non-representative samples. Largely ignored in the literature on human/animal interactions are surveys conducted by commercial polling organizations using large probability samples of Americans. Many of these surveys contain information relevant to attitudes about animals and animal welfare issues. This information is available to researchers electronically at little or no cost through organizations such as the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research and the National Opinion Research Center.

Electronically Available Surveys of Attitudes Toward Animals

Much of the research on attitudes toward non-human species has been conducted with non-representative samples. Largely ignored in the literature on human/animal interactions are surveys conducted by commercial polling organizations using large probability samples of Americans. Many of these surveys contain information relevant to attitudes about animals and animal welfare issues. This information is available to researchers electronically at little or no cost through organizations such as the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research and the National Opinion Research Center.

THE VALUE OF SOCIALLY EXTRINSIC VS. INTRINSIC OUTCOMES: AN EXPLORATION OF AMERICANS FROM 1974 TO 1994

Stimulated by a recent exchange theory of value (Emerson, 1987; Stolte, 1998), the research reported here used archived data from the National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey (GSS)[1] to examine 1974–1994 trends in the value placed by Americans on socially “extrinsic” vs. “intrinsic” outcomes of exchange. The data show an increase in the value placed on socially extrinsic outcomes (specifically income) and a decrease in the value placed on socially intrinsic outcomes (specifically those mediated by marriage, kin contact, neighborly interaction, fraternal and church group membership). These trends raise questions about a possible imbalance in the pursuit of extrinsic over intrinsic outcomes, and possible deleterious social psychological consequences. While the present results are exploratory and highly provisional, they strongly encourage further research aimed at answering these questions.

The Health of the Polity: Results from a National Sample

Health status has been held to affect people's political orientations and behavior. Using the 1987 National Opinion Research Center General Social Survey, this paper tests for the existence of that relationship. Results suggest that healthier people are more likely to be conservative and status quo oriented, somewhat more politicized, less alienated, and more active in politics. Results, although modest, support the thesis that health status has an effect on political orientations and behavior.