Southern Focus Poll, Non-South Survey, Spring 1998 - Analysis
EDREADIN
Educators do not all agree on how much time should be spent teaching reading in the public schools. Do you, yourself, think reading is more important or less important than other school subjects?
| Frequency | Percent | Cumulative Percent | Z-Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1) MORE IMPORTANT | 353 | 86.3% | 86.3% | -0.38 |
| 2) ABOUT SAME | 50 | 12.2% | 98.5% | 2.13 |
| 3) LESS IMPORTANT | 6 | 1.5% | 100.0% | 4.64 |
| Missing | 4 | |||
| Total Unweighted N = 409 |
Sex (I-SEX)
| MALE | FEMALE | Missing | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MORE IMPORTANT | 84.6%143 | 87.5%210 | 0 | 86.3%353 |
| ABOUT SAME | 13.0%22 | 11.7%28 | 0 | 12.2%50 |
| LESS IMPORTANT | 2.4%4 | 0.8%2 | 0 | 1.5%6 |
| Missing | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Total | 100%169 | 100%240 | 409 |
Race (I-RACE)
| White | Black | Native American | Asian | Other | Missing | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MORE IMPORTANT | 85.7%299 | 89.5%17 | 100.0%5 | 90.9%10 | 88.9%16 | 6 | 86.3%347 |
| ABOUT SAME | 12.6%44 | 10.5%2 | 0.0%0 | 9.1%1 | 11.1%2 | 1 | 12.2%49 |
| LESS IMPORTANT | 1.7%6 | 0.0%0 | 0.0%0 | 0.0%0 | 0.0%0 | 0 | 1.5%6 |
| Missing | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| Total | 100%349 | 100%19 | 100%5 | 100%11 | 100%18 | 402 |
Marital status (I-MARITAL)
| MARRIED | DIVORCED | SEPARATED | WIDOWED | SINGLE | Missing | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MORE IMPORTANT | 87.4%195 | 90.7%49 | 100.0%6 | 89.5%34 | 77.9%67 | 2 | 86.2%351 |
| ABOUT SAME | 11.7%26 | 9.3%5 | 0.0%0 | 10.5%4 | 17.4%15 | 0 | 12.3%50 |
| LESS IMPORTANT | 0.9%2 | 0.0%0 | 0.0%0 | 0.0%0 | 4.7%4 | 0 | 1.5%6 |
| Missing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| Total | 100%223 | 100%54 | 100%6 | 100%38 | 100%86 | 407 |
Religion (I-RELIGION)
| Protestant | Catholic | Jewish | Other | None | Missing | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MORE IMPORTANT | 85.2%155 | 85.9%116 | 92.3%12 | 92.9%26 | 82.6%19 | 25 | 86.1%328 |
| ABOUT SAME | 12.1%22 | 13.3%18 | 7.7%1 | 7.1%2 | 17.4%4 | 3 | 12.3%47 |
| LESS IMPORTANT | 2.7%5 | 0.7%1 | 0.0%0 | 0.0%0 | 0.0%0 | 0 | 1.6%6 |
| Missing | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 0 |
| Total | 100%182 | 100%135 | 100%13 | 100%28 | 100%23 | 381 |
Political party (I-PARTYID)
| REPUBLICAN | DEMOCRAT | INDEPENDENT | OTHER | Missing | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MORE IMPORTANT | 87.2%95 | 87.1%122 | 86.2%106 | 86.4%19 | 11 | 86.8%342 |
| ABOUT SAME | 11.0%12 | 10.7%15 | 13.0%16 | 13.6%3 | 4 | 11.7%46 |
| LESS IMPORTANT | 1.8%2 | 2.1%3 | 0.8%1 | 0.0%0 | 0 | 1.5%6 |
| Missing | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| Total | 100%109 | 100%140 | 100%123 | 100%22 | 394 |
Education (I-EDUC)
| Less than High School | High School graduate | Some college | College graduate | Post college graduate | Missing | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MORE IMPORTANT | 79.3%23 | 89.7%104 | 85.3%81 | 81.1%73 | 90.8%69 | 3 | 86.2%350 |
| ABOUT SAME | 17.2%5 | 9.5%11 | 11.6%11 | 17.8%16 | 9.2%7 | 0 | 12.3%50 |
| LESS IMPORTANT | 3.4%1 | 0.9%1 | 3.2%3 | 1.1%1 | 0.0%0 | 0 | 1.5%6 |
| Missing | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Total | 100%29 | 100%116 | 100%95 | 100%90 | 100%76 | 406 |
Household income (I-INCOME)
| Less than $10,000 | Less than $20,000 | Less than $40,000 | Less than $60,000 | $60,000 or greater | Missing | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MORE IMPORTANT | 92.9%13 | 96.8%30 | 87.2%41 | 94.4%34 | 73.5%25 | 210 | 88.3%143 |
| ABOUT SAME | 7.1%1 | 3.2%1 | 12.8%6 | 2.8%1 | 20.6%7 | 34 | 9.9%16 |
| LESS IMPORTANT | 0.0%0 | 0.0%0 | 0.0%0 | 2.8%1 | 5.9%2 | 3 | 1.9%3 |
| Missing | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 251 | 2 |
| Total | 100%14 | 100%31 | 100%47 | 100%36 | 100%34 | 162 |
