How does Education impact political participation? Several studies in the past have attempted to answer this question by relating differing levels of academic achievement to an individual’s likelihood to turnout. In this research paper, I intend on examining the same relationship to attempt to address a descriptive question regarding voter turnout. More specifically, my research will attempt to answer a “what” question regarding political decisions – how much does educational achievement influence political participation? Traditional thought and researchers assert that the relationship is relatively linear and positive, without trying to do much of the same, I will attempt to further expand on this research topic to provide additional insight as to the factors and causes of the relationship.
Theory: In order to answer my descriptive question ~ (How much does educational achievement influence political participation?) ~ a causal relationship must be extracted from the variables that will be under scrutiny. Stated outright, my theory argues that educational attainment levels have a direct and causal relationship with an individual’s political participation. This argument outlines two conceptual variables where the explanatory-independent variable is educational attainment and the response-dependent variable is political participation. The relationship can best be understood through a mechanism: political participation, the dependent variable, characterizes an individual’s relationship with their electoral duties. The independent variable, through a mechanism that I define as educational attainment, provides individuals with the civic skills and resources necessary for electoral participation, which increases the likelihood of individual turnout.
The link between educational attainment and voter participation can best be explained through a number of categories. First, voting requires a basic understanding of the political discourse and education provides individuals with the skills necessary to make sense of it. As individuals proceed through the academic ladder there is an inevitable increase in the exposure to issues directly related to the subject of politics. The imparted knowledge gained through exposure enables the individual to follow political campaigns and evaluate the issues related to politics easier. Individuals are usually aware that they are voting whenever they go out and vote, it is important to remember that individuals typically do not vote without knowing what the vote means in the context of their society. Moreover, voting necessitates access to voting and education informs individuals on how to maneuver pass these certain voting barriers and requirements. Finally, increased educational attainment situates individuals in larger social networks with other highly educated individuals that tend to share a higher sense of civic duty and are therefore, more likely to actively participate in political discourse. I intend on testing this theory by measuring the effects the explanatory variable, educational attainment, has on the response variable, political participation.
My general theory can be operationalized to reflect the essential question of my research proposal. Because I am attempting to answer the descriptive question of how educational attainment influences political participation, I will use voter turnout as the unit of analysis to establish a measurable variable for political participation. The dataset that will be utilized in this experiment will be presidential elections because presidential elections are the most popular American election in terms of turnout and also possess the largest possible pool of voters than all other elections. Although I would prefer to measure educational attainment through a measure of years spent in academia, the NES Data only provides me with a categorical variable to measure educational attainment in academia. Using a quantitative measure for educational attainment would help reveal a more obvious relationship that exists between time spent in education and political participation rates. However, there are some limitations imposed by the data that are out of the experimenter’s control. For the sake of this research assignment, I will proceed with the measures as such.
Examining the original theory and the causal relationship it attempts to explain requires an additional layer of analysis that accounts for outlying independent variables that may influence political participation rates. To directly examine the education attainment-political participation the additional independent variable, income, should be controlled for. Income influences voter participation because poorer individuals tend to need to work in order to make ends meet, making it more difficult for them to take time out of their day to go out and vote. On the other hand, wealthier individuals can afford to take more time off of work to focus on other activities like voting, controlling for income levels rids the analysis of this bias. Another variable that will be accounted for is Race. Race still plays a role in one’s ability to gain access in the voting stations, controlling for this variable would outline the relationship that exists between educational attainment and political participation even across color lines. Age is another factor that contributes to one’s likelihood to vote because older people tend to vote in higher rates than younger, controlling for this variable would ensure that the individual is more likely to participate political not because of growing age, but rather because of increasing academic achievement. Patriotism must be controlled for because people who are more patriotic view voting as a more serious civic duty and are therefore more inclined to vote. Controlling for these variables ensures that my analysis measures only the impact that educational attainment possesses on political participation.
Measurement: This research proposal requires a cross-sectional analysis using voter turnout data from presidential elections made available by the American National Election Studies (NES). The NES provides the data for all presidential elections dating back to 1948. The response variable political participation will be measured through presidential election turnout numbers. The unit of analysis, voter turnout, will then be measured alongside educational attainment to examine the possible relationship between education and the likelihood to turnout. By categorizing the respondent’s education levels to determine how differing levels of attainment impacted turnout, we will be able to determine which category of respondents were more likely to vote than others. Educational Attainment, ¬the ¬explanatory variable, will also be measured using NES polling data. Using a quantitative measure for educational attainment would help reveal a more concise relationship that exists between time spent in education and political participation rates. Again, this is perhaps a better way to measure the impact of time spent in academia and its deterministic impact it has on electoral participation; however, for the sake of this research assignment I will proceed with the measures as such.
Statistical Analysis: One of the main obstacles in measuring what exactly impacts voter turnout is accounting all the other additional explanatory variables that may influence the response variable, political participation. In order to test my theory/hypothesis that educational attainment has a direct and causal relationship with political participation, I will carry out a multiple regression test between my categorical hierarchic independent variable, educational attainment, and categorical dependent variable, voter turnout. A multiple regression test will control for all the other independent factors that influence political participation rates, ensuring that the only relationship measured is the impact educational attainment has had on the participation rates. After running a multiple regression test and examining the resulting data, a t-test will be carried out to measure the direct impact educational attainment has on political participation rates to determine if the educational impact is statistically significant. If this multivariate analysis were carried out, I anticipate I would find a steady positive relationship between education levels and voter turnout. Though the graphical relationship between the variables may not be an exponential one it would still appear as if the relationship was positive at the very least. Even in the event of non-steady but still positive graphical relationship, the positive aspect of relationship would lead me to believe that I at least discovered some relationship that will require deeper analysis to unpack. Finally, I would posit that if my theory and original assertion were true, then the outcome of the t-test would indicate that educational attainment does have a statistically significant impact on political participation, or more specifically, voter turnout.
Conclusion: The original theory argued that there is reason to believe a link exists educational attainment levels and an individual’s likelihood to participate politically. The multiple regression test would reveal a strong relationship between two conceptual variables being measured in the study. Fortunately, because the multiple regression test can account for all the additional independent variables that impacts the response variable, a mere positive correlation would not be evidence that the two variables are casually related. For this reason, carrying out a t-test on the only relationship of interest is necessary to determine if an increase of time spent in academia has a statistically significant impact on the likelihood that an individual turns out and vote. If both the multiple regression test and the t-test favor my theory, then I would comfortable with the assertion that even when you account for additional variables such as income, race, and age the same relationship persists between the X and Y even through socio-economic boundaries.