General Social Survey, 1993

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WORDC We would like to know something about how people go about guessing words they do not know. On this card are listed some words—you may know some of them, and you may not know quite a few of them. On each line the first word is in capital letters—like BEAST. Then there are five other words. Tell me the number of the word that comes closest to the meaning of the word in capital letters. For example, if the word in capital letters is BEAST, you would say "4" since "animal" comes closer to BEAST than any of the other words. If you wish, I will read the words to you. These words are difficult for almost everyone—just give me your best guess if you are not sure of the answer. Word C   0) Incorrect answer   1) Correct answer   9) No answer

Pie Chart Bar Chart Cumulative Bar Chart

Category	Frequency	Percentage	Cumulative Percentage	Z-Score
Incorrect answer	574	53.1%	53.1%	-.68
Correct answer	213	19.7%	72.9%	-.42
No answer	293	27.1%	100%	1.63

Variable Comparisons

Age Worship attendance Education Gender Religion Political ideology Race

Age (I-AGE)

	18-29	30-44	45-59	60-74	75 and older	TOTAL
Incorrect answer	65.6% 139	54.3% 201	49.2% 116	47.7% 83	40.0% 34	53.2% 573
Correct answer	14.2% 30	23.2% 86	22.5% 53	17.2% 30	16.5% 14	19.8% 213
No answer	20.3% 43	22.4% 83	28.4% 67	35.1% 61	43.5% 37	27.0% 291
TOTAL	100.0% 212	100.0% 370	100.0% 236	100.0% 174	100.0% 85	1077

Worship attendance (I-ATTEND)

	Less than once a year	About once or twice a year	Several times a year	About once a month	Two to three times a month	Nearly every week	Once a week or more	TOTAL
Incorrect answer	51.5% 136	48.1% 62	48.0% 59	62.7% 52	60.2% 53	59.7% 37	53.7% 168	53.4% 567
Correct answer	20.5% 54	23.3% 30	25.2% 31	15.7% 13	19.3% 17	12.9% 8	18.8% 59	20.0% 212
No answer	28.0% 74	28.7% 37	26.8% 33	21.7% 18	20.5% 18	27.4% 17	27.5% 86	26.6% 283
TOTAL	100.0% 264	100.0% 129	100.0% 123	100.0% 83	100.0% 88	100.0% 62	100.0% 313	1062

Education (I-EDUC)

	Less than high school	High school	Junior college	Bachelor's degree	Graduate degree	TOTAL
Incorrect answer	50.0% 99	56.3% 322	63.1% 41	47.6% 79	41.0% 32	53.1% 573
Correct answer	4.5% 9	15.6% 89	18.5% 12	39.8% 66	47.4% 37	19.7% 213
No answer	45.5% 90	28.1% 161	18.5% 12	12.7% 21	11.5% 9	27.2% 293
TOTAL	100.0% 198	100.0% 572	100.0% 65	100.0% 166	100.0% 78	1079

Gender (I-GENDER)

	Male	Female	TOTAL
Incorrect answer	55.3% 265	51.4% 309	53.1% 574
Correct answer	23.2% 111	17.0% 102	19.7% 213
No answer	21.5% 103	31.6% 190	27.1% 293
TOTAL	100.0% 479	100.0% 601	1080

Religion (I-RELIGION)

	Protestant	Catholic	Jewish	None	Other	TOTAL
Incorrect answer	55.6% 385	50.0% 117	34.8% 8	49.0% 49	52.2% 12	53.2% 571
Correct answer	16.6% 115	23.1% 54	43.5% 10	30.0% 30	13.0% 3	19.8% 212
No answer	27.8% 193	26.9% 63	21.7% 5	21.0% 21	34.8% 8	27.0% 290
TOTAL	100.0% 693	100.0% 234	100.0% 23	100.0% 100	100.0% 23	1073

Political ideology (I-POLITICS)

	Liberal and extremely liberal	Slightly liberal	Moderate, middle of the road	Slightly conservative	Conservative	Extremely conservative	TOTAL
Incorrect answer	46.7% 64	50.7% 69	57.3% 229	57.1% 101	50.6% 85	58.6% 17	54.0% 565
Correct answer	21.2% 29	27.2% 37	15.5% 62	22.6% 40	23.2% 39	17.2% 5	20.2% 212
No answer	32.1% 44	22.1% 30	27.3% 109	20.3% 36	26.2% 44	24.1% 7	25.8% 270
TOTAL	100.0% 137	100.0% 136	100.0% 400	100.0% 177	100.0% 168	100.0% 29	1047

Race (I-RACE)

	White	Black	Other	TOTAL
Incorrect answer	52.0% 472	64.3% 74	49.1% 28	53.1% 574
Correct answer	21.3% 193	7.8% 9	19.3% 11	19.7% 213
No answer	26.8% 243	27.8% 32	31.6% 18	27.1% 293
TOTAL	100.0% 908	100.0% 115	100.0% 57	1080