Objectives: The objectives of this assignment are:

1. to write an SPSS program to generate a three-way crosstabulation;
2. to identify an appropriate variable to include in a multi-variate analysis;
3. to use appropriate conventions for presenting data generated from a three-way contingency table in tabular form; and
4. to write about data.

Assignment: In assignment two, you selected an independent variable with which to explain presidential vote, and generated a two-way contingency table. Often, the relationship between two variables may be spurious. In order to better understand the underlying relationship, political scientists often control for a third variable. Simply defined, "controlling" for a third variable is a method of removing or separating the effects of another variable."

Another reason to add a third variable to an analysis, is to find out if the observed relationship is the same for different groups of people. For example, is a relationship the same for women as it is for men; or if we look at different age groups of voters, does the relationship change?

For this assignment write a brief paper based upon a three-way crosstabulation. As in the previous assignments, use the same data from two presidential elections and compare it. Include the appropriate tables in your paper. In writing your paper, you will need to analyze data and report your findings in three steps.

• First, report your findings from a two-way crosstabulation for each of two elections (e.g., 1988 and 1992).
• Second, you will need to select a third variable (either as a control or to examine the original relationship for different groups of people), and add that variable to your crosstabulation.
• Third, you may then compare your findings for the two presidential elections you have selected.

This paper should be somewhat longer that the report you have written for previous assignments.

Methodology:

Tables. In previous assignments you have been given the appropriate conventions for presenting data in tabular form. Therefore, rather than duplicating that information, what follows below is a list of the tables that will be required to complete this assignment.

As an example, suppose you will generate contingency tables for Presidential Vote for 1988 and 1992 (V4),and Change in Financial Condition for 1988 and 1992 (V33). To generate a three-way contingency table, control for Social Class in 1988 and 1992 (V66).

The following tables would need to be included in your paper:

• Table 1. Change in Financial Condition and Presidential Vote, 1988.
• Table 2. Change in Financial Condition and Presidential Vote, 1988 for Working Class Voters.
• Table 3. Change in Financial Condition and Presidential Vote, 1988 for Middle Class Voters.
• Table 4. Change in Financial Condition and Presidential Vote, 1992.
• Table 5. Change in Financial Condition and Presidential Vote, 1992 for Working Class Voters.
• Table 6. Change in Financial Condition and Presidential Vote, 1992 for Middle Class Voters.