What Makes People Feel Differently Toward Immigration Policy?

How do varyious factors affect one’s feelings toward immigration policies?

In my analysis, I will look at seven variables to obeserve their relationships with feelings toward immigration.

Variables:

• Immigration_Should_Be: how a respondent feels about changing immigration policies
• Raised_In_US: was a respondent was raised in the United States
• Relig_Importance: independent of what religion, how important is religion to a respondent
• Occupation: a respondent’s occupation classification
• FT_Trump: how does a respondent feel about Trump and his policies
• Politics_OR_Current_Events: is the respondent interested in politics or current events
• ft_immig_2017: respondent’s feeling toward immigrants

Analysis

Does being raised in the US affect one’s feelings toward immigration policies?

	Much Easier	Slightly Easier	No Change	Slightly Harder	Much Harder	Don’t Know
Yes	0.09	0.17	0.26	0.19	0.24	0.05
No	0.09	0.20	0.29	0.18	0.20	0.04

Observed Frequencies

Much Easier Slightly Easier No Change Slightly Harder Much Harder Don’t Know Yes 386 741 1096 823 1023 211 No 16 34 50 30 34 7

Expected Frequencies

Much Easier Slightly Easier No Change Slightly Harder Much Harder Don’t Know Yes 386.55583 745.22579 1101.97259 820.22916 1016.39182 209.624803 No 15.44417 29.77421 44.02741 32.77084 40.60818 8.375197

## 
##  Pearson's Chi-squared test
## 
## data:  MyVoterData$Raised_In_US and MyVoterData$Immigration_Should_Be
## X-squared = 3.0839, df = 5, p-value = 0.6871

The bar graph and crosstab shows little association between being raised in the U.S. and feelings toward immigration policy. This is validated by the chi-squared analysis with a p-value of 0.6871. The analysis shows that there is no statistically significant relationship between being raised in the U.S. and one’s feelings toward changing immigration laws.

Raised_In_US	avg_ft_immig
Yes	61.09
No	72.06

The table shows that on average, people who were raised outside of the US have higher feelings toward immigrants than people raised within the US.

## 
##  Welch Two Sample t-test
## 
## data:  ft_immig_2017 by Raised_In_US
## t = -5.6801, df = 187.14, p-value = 5.077e-08
## alternative hypothesis: true difference in means is not equal to 0
## 95 percent confidence interval:
##  -14.776177  -7.158242
## sample estimates:
## mean in group Yes  mean in group No 
##          61.09127          72.05848

The t-test shows that there is a statistically significant difference between the sample means of respondents raised within and outside the US and their average feelings toward immigrants.

---

Does religiousness affect one’s feelings toward immigration policies?

	Much Easier	Slightly Easier	No Change	Slightly Harder	Much Harder	Don’t Know
Not at All Important	0.16	0.26	0.26	0.14	0.14	0.05
Not Too Important	0.08	0.18	0.27	0.20	0.21	0.05
Somewhat Important	0.07	0.16	0.26	0.21	0.24	0.05
Very Important	0.07	0.13	0.25	0.21	0.30	0.04

Observed Frequencies

Much Easier Slightly Easier No Change Slightly Harder Much Harder Don’t Know Not at All Important 157 253 254 134 140 53 Not Too Important 51 115 169 124 133 30 Somewhat Important 75 175 284 224 264 59 Very Important 119 232 440 371 525 77

Expected Frequencies

Much Easier Slightly Easier No Change Slightly Harder Much Harder Don’t Know Not at All Important 89.36339 172.2802 254.9747 189.6193 236.0794 48.68304 Not Too Important 56.08883 108.1314 160.0345 119.0144 148.1750 30.55585 Somewhat Important 97.47914 187.9262 278.1308 206.8401 257.5195 53.10431 Very Important 159.06864 306.6622 453.8600 337.5262 420.2261 86.65680

## 
##  Pearson's Chi-squared test
## 
## data:  MyVoterData$Relig_Importance and MyVoterData$Immigration_Should_Be
## X-squared = 215.64, df = 15, p-value < 2.2e-16

There is a strong statistical association between religious importance and feelings toward changing immigration laws. 29% of respondents who believe religion is very important also believe that immigration should be much harder, while only 14% of respondents who believe religion is not at all important believe that immigration should be much harder.

Relig_Importance	avg_ft_immig
Important	59.21
Not Important	65.56

The table shows that on average, people who believe religion is not so important have higher feelings toward immigrants than people who believe religion is important. Based on a p-value of 3.335e-14, the sample mean feeling toward immigration of respondents who believe religion is important is significantly different from those who do not believe religion is important.

## 
##  Welch Two Sample t-test
## 
## data:  ft_immig_2017 by Relig_Importance
## t = -7.6164, df = 3504.1, p-value = 3.335e-14
## alternative hypothesis: true difference in means is not equal to 0
## 95 percent confidence interval:
##  -7.988345 -4.717547
## sample estimates:
##     mean in group Important mean in group Not Important 
##                    59.21060                    65.56355

---

Does one’s occupation affect his/her feelings toward immigration policies?

	Much Easier	Slightly Easier	No Change	Slightly Harder	Much Harder	Don’t Know
Professional/Technical	0.12	0.21	0.26	0.17	0.20	0.04
Management	0.10	0.16	0.24	0.25	0.21	0.04
Sales	0.07	0.17	0.24	0.19	0.29	0.04
Business Owner/Self-Employed	0.05	0.22	0.30	0.18	0.22	0.03
Clerical/Administrative	0.08	0.16	0.26	0.18	0.25	0.06
Military/Civilian Uniform Services	0.08	0.13	0.23	0.27	0.25	0.04
Retired	0.10	0.16	0.25	0.21	0.25	0.03
Student	0.21	0.31	0.15	0.10	0.15	0.07
Unemployed	0.10	0.14	0.25	0.18	0.25	0.08
Other	0.06	0.15	0.26	0.18	0.28	0.07

Observed Frequencies

Much Easier Slightly Easier No Change Slightly Harder Much Harder Don’t Know Professional/Technical 110 196 247 158 184 40 Management 56 89 128 133 112 22 Sales 15 36 52 41 61 8 Business Owner/Self-Employed 14 61 81 49 60 9 Clerical/Administrative 29 63 101 71 96 24 Military/Civilian Uniform Services 4 7 12 14 13 2 Retired 72 116 188 156 188 23 Student 14 21 10 7 10 5 Unemployed 29 42 75 52 74 24 Other 58 135 241 161 257 61

Expected Frequencies

Much Easier Slightly Easier No Change Slightly Harder Much Harder Don’t Know Professional/Technical 84.884537 162.148517 240.25923 178.23636 223.32465 46.146706 Management 49.024225 93.647272 138.75934 102.93865 128.97895 26.651574 Sales 19.337333 36.938646 54.73285 40.60358 50.87503 10.512565 Business Owner/Self-Employed 24.875255 47.517319 70.40752 52.23183 65.44487 13.523206 Clerical/Administrative 34.861671 66.593616 98.67331 73.20082 91.71836 18.952230 Military/Civilian Uniform Services 4.720851 9.017885 13.36201 9.91261 12.42019 2.566448 Retired 67.453702 128.851709 190.92257 141.63595 177.46547 36.670591 Student 6.082635 11.619199 17.21644 12.77202 16.00294 3.306769 Unemployed 26.872538 51.332579 76.06067 56.42563 70.69957 14.609011 Other 82.887254 158.333258 234.60607 174.04256 218.06996 45.060901

## 
##  Pearson's Chi-squared test
## 
## data:  MyVoterData$Occupation and MyVoterData$Immigration_Should_Be
## X-squared = 128.6, df = 45, p-value = 5.58e-10

The crosstab and bar graph show that students are the only occupation category in which the majority respondents believe immigration should be made easier. Based on the p-value of 5.58e-10, the chi-squared analysis validates that there is a statically significant association between occupation and feelings toward changing immigration laws.

---

Are feelings toward Trump and his policies related to feelings toward immigration policies?

	Much Easier	Slightly Easier	No Change	Slightly Harder	Much Harder	Don’t Know
Dislike and Disapprove of his Policies	0.15	0.24	0.29	0.16	0.10	0.06
Dislike but Approve of his Policies	0.04	0.13	0.24	0.23	0.33	0.04
Like and Approve of his Policies	0.03	0.10	0.21	0.22	0.42	0.02
Like but Disapprove of his Policies	0.04	0.08	0.24	0.29	0.25	0.10

Observed Frequencies

Much Easier Slightly Easier No Change Slightly Harder Much Harder Don’t Know Dislike and Disapprove of his Policies 328 531 648 349 220 135 Dislike but Approve of his Policies 30 97 184 177 253 34 Like and Approve of his Policies 38 128 269 278 538 25 Like but Disapprove of his Policies 3 6 17 21 18 7

Expected Frequencies

Much Easier Slightly Easier No Change Slightly Harder Much Harder Don’t Know Dislike and Disapprove of his Policies 203.550761 388.73604 570.35025 420.87563 524.9467 102.540609 Dislike but Approve of his Policies 71.348639 136.25981 199.91924 147.52538 184.0044 35.942547 Like and Approve of his Policies 117.472081 224.34518 329.15736 242.89340 302.9543 59.177665 Like but Disapprove of his Policies 6.628519 12.65898 18.57314 13.70558 17.0946 3.339179

## 
##  Pearson's Chi-squared test
## 
## data:  MyVoterData$FT_Trump and MyVoterData$Immigration_Should_Be
## X-squared = 733.7, df = 15, p-value < 2.2e-16

Based on a p-value of 2.2e-16, there is a statistically significant association between feelings toward Trump and his policies and feelings toward changing immigration laws. The crosstab and bar graph show that respondents who like Trump and approve of his polices are most likely to believe immigration should be harder, while much fewer of respondents who dislike Trump and disapprove of his policies believe immigration should be harder.

FT_Trump	avg_ft_immig
Approve	50.13
Disapprove	72.13

The table shows that on average, respondents who approve of Trump’s policies have much lower feelings toward immigrants than those who disapprove of his policies. Based on a p-value of 2.2e-16, the sample average feeling toward immigration of respondents who approve of Trump’s policies is significantly different from those who disapprove of his policies.

## 
##  Welch Two Sample t-test
## 
## data:  ft_immig_2017 by FT_Trump
## t = -28.565, df = 4037.2, p-value < 2.2e-16
## alternative hypothesis: true difference in means is not equal to 0
## 95 percent confidence interval:
##  -23.50862 -20.48885
## sample estimates:
##    mean in group Approve mean in group Disapprove 
##                 50.13255                 72.13129

---

Are people who follow politics or current events more or less likely to want immigration to be easier?

	Much Easier	Slightly Easier	No Change	Slightly Harder	Much Harder	Don’t Know
Very Interested	0.11	0.20	0.25	0.18	0.23	0.03
Somewhat Interested	0.06	0.14	0.27	0.22	0.25	0.07
Not Very Interested	0.05	0.10	0.24	0.22	0.28	0.11
Nothing	0.07	0.04	0.22	0.26	0.19	0.22

Observed Frequencies

Much Easier Slightly Easier No Change Slightly Harder Much Harder Don’t Know Very Interested 306 563 715 501 655 92 Somewhat Interested 81 181 358 284 325 90 Not Very Interested 13 28 64 60 77 30 Nothing 2 1 6 7 5 6

Expected Frequencies

Much Easier Slightly Easier No Change Slightly Harder Much Harder Don’t Know Very Interested 255.834607 491.940674 727.410337 542.216629 675.861573 138.736180 Somewhat Interested 119.154607 229.120674 338.790337 252.536629 314.781573 64.616180 Not Very Interested 24.571685 47.248539 69.864270 52.077303 64.913258 13.324944 Nothing 2.439101 4.690112 6.935056 5.169438 6.443595 1.322697

## 
##  Pearson's Chi-squared test
## 
## data:  MyVoterData$Politics_OR_Current_Events and MyVoterData$Immigration_Should_Be
## X-squared = 136.2, df = 15, p-value < 2.2e-16

Based on a p-value of 2.2e-16, there is a statisticaly significant association between following politics or current events and feelings toward changing immigration laws. The crosstabs reveal that respondents who are more interested in politics or current events are more likely to believe that immigration should be easier, while respondents who have no interest have the highest proportion of respondents who do not know how they feel toward immigration policies.

Politics_OR_Current_Events	avg_ft_immig
Interested	62.12
Not Interested	55.63

The table shows that on average, respondents who are very interested in politics or current events have higher feelings toward immigrants than respondents who are not interested in politics or current events. Based on a p-value of 1.816e-05, the average feeling toward immigration of respondents who are interested in politics or current events is significantly different from those who are not interested.

## 
##  Welch Two Sample t-test
## 
## data:  ft_immig_2017 by Politics_OR_Current_Events
## t = 4.3345, df = 435.34, p-value = 1.816e-05
## alternative hypothesis: true difference in means is not equal to 0
## 95 percent confidence interval:
##  3.546462 9.430848
## sample estimates:
##     mean in group Interested mean in group Not Interested 
##                     62.12147                     55.63281