Pao Yang
Sociology 176
Dr. Kupal
April 27, 2014
Work Status, Race and Education versus Class, Food and Homelessness Cause
Intro
The purpose of this research paper is to showcase some factors that affect the attitude of people about homelessness, hunger, and inequality. Quotes will also be provided to display some communicative patterns in how people discuss homelessness, hunger, and inequality. In the content of this paper I will explore how a person's work status, racial background and education level influences their opinion about homelessness as well as affecting their social class status and amount of food they may have in their household.
Method
Students in Dr. Timothy Kupal's sociology class at Fresno State during the Spring semester of 2014 conducted telephone interviews surveys asking residents about concerns in the San Joaquin Valley. Topics included hunger, general welfare, and homelessness. Students interviewed individuals at their own convenience while using a telephone recording service to record the interview into a database. The interview was able to collect information from respondents within four California counties. No respondent names were disclosed during the entirety of this research. The interviews were recorded using a telephone recording service that students dialed before each interview. The research survey was read to the respondent and the student would then mark the corresponding response onto an online survey response form where it enters a database monitored by Dr. Kubal.
Close-ended questions were collected into a dataset that could be analyzed through the use of IBM's SPSS Statistics program where variables were chosen to be compared. The open-ended questions were then transcribed by participating students. The transcribed dialogue was entered into QSR's Nvivo program. Variables that were analyzed with a chi-square analysis of lower than 0.05 are considered to have a significant relationship. The data is compared using crosstabulation on SPSS to find further connections between variables. The variables then are analyzed further to seek out what the possible causes are. By using NVivo to organize the transcription, we were able to find quotes to support our hypotheses. Scholarly articles were then used to help support our class research findings.
Quantitative
The first analysis I made was between the level of education of the respondent and what they thought was the cause of homelessness. A question proposed in the survey asks respondents how much education have they completed. Another question asked them what is the cause of homelessness? There were a total of 327 respondents in this analysis. The four education level groups were 1: some high school or less, 2: high school, 3: two year degree, 4: bachelor's degree or more. The two opinions for cause of homelessness was the government not doing enough and people relying too much on the government. We expected there to be less than two respondents who had some high school or less who thought that the government was not doing enough but we recorded five respondents with this opinion. We received the largest standard residual of 2.4 from this scenario. We had expected there to be about 4 respondents who with some high school or less and thinks that people relied too much on the government. This scenario gave us a standard residual of -1.6, which is the largest gap of the four level of education who thinks people relied too much on the government. This indicates that people with a lower level of education tended more towards approving more help from the government rather than less help from the government.
Our chi-square analysis of how respondents rated their current health according to their work status tells us that we have a 95.8 percent confidence that there is a significant relationship between level of education and what respondents think is the cause of homelessness. The majority of the respondents had a high school education or a two year degree. Approximately 38 percent of respondents had a high school education and approximately another 38 percent of the respondents had a two year degree. Approximately 85 to 87 percent of these two groups thought that people relied too much on the government. It is safe to make the guess that the majority of people with a high school education or a two year degree believe that people are relying too much on the government.
Qualitative
An example of a respondent with a 2 year degree says that he/she can see that some individuals may suffer from psychological issues but the government is not helping homeless people with these issues.
"I think it's sometimes people not wanting to be a part of the government for their own individual reasons. And I think a good majority of the homeless are suffering from psychological problems, and that's why it's hard for them to be in society. And, I think if the government understood the reasons behind homelessness and the people who are homeless. But I don't see them trying to understand what's wrong with them. They just separate them onto a category and say these people are rebelling against society, when that might not be the case" (24).
Another respondent with a 2 year degree expressed that the government is not doing enough and gives examples of what homeless people have to do in time of hunger. The respondent stated "homelessness is result of capitalist greed and that the government is not doing enough. There is a lot a waste in America. Homeless using the pizza parlors to find a good amount of food in dumpsters. Does not understand why anybody in America would be homeless or hungry" (25).
A respondent with the education level of some high school or less express that the government should help out more. They stated "Government programs could help. People need to understand and stop turns the heads away. People think they understand why they are homeless, but really are not them and they don't know. Ignorance is part of the big problem" (98). This individual thinks that the lack of understanding is a big contributor to the issue of homelessness.
A respondent with a high school education said that
"homelessness is the cause of government help and job positions available. I think that individuals and their families should take primary responsibility because we all have opportunities to get an education and I think that would lead us to getting a decent job which means having the means to provide. I'm not saying all the time people, I'm not saying all the people are just lazy and don't try, but I think most of the time to get off the streets.; I think that individuals and their families should take primary responsibility because we all have opportunities to get an education and I think that would lead us to getting a decent job which means having the means to provide. I'm not saying all the time people, I'm not saying all the people are just lazy and don't try, but I think most of the time to get off the streets" (52).
This respondent puts the responsibility onto the family of the victim. I question this
argument because they say that jobs and help is limiting homeless people. This sounds somewhat
contradictory.
Although the quantitative statistics show that respondents with a high school degree or a 2 year degree are more likely to think that people rely too much on the government, the qualitative quotes from respondents show that there is no general direct answer to this question. There is a large amount of support for the government to do more for people and that the government is not doing enough from people with a 2 year degree. I did find some quotes where respondents with a high school degree were against increased government involvement.
Quantitative
The second analysis I made was between the race of the respondents and what they thought was the cause of homelessness. Just like my first analysis, the two opinions for cause of homelessness was the government not doing enough and people relying too much on the government. The analysis included four different race; White, Hispanic, Asian, and Black. There were a total of 320 respondents who replied to this question. From these respondents, 12 Black respondents reported thinking that the government is not doing enough. We had expected there to be approximately 34 White respondents to report thinking that the government is not doing enough, but instead we see higher recorded number of only 27 White respondents. We have a standard residual value of -1.1 for this comparison. The standard residual for Blacks who think that the government is not doing enough is 1.6 which is the largest of respondents who thought the government was is not doing enough. We had expected there to be approximately 18 respondents to think that people are relying too much on the government but we only recorded 13 individuals that thinks so. We have a standard residual value of -1.1 for this comparison. Of the four racial groups, Blacks had the biggest gap from our expected count.
The chi-square analysis shows that we have a 95.9 percent confidence level that the respondent's racial background and what they think about how much the government is involved have a significant relationship.
Whites were positively correlated to thinking that people were relying too much on the government. Blacks were the opposite; negatively correlated with thinking that the government is not doing enough.
Qualitative
A black respondent expresses that capitalism is a contributor to homelessness in that capitalism does not keep in mind of people who cannot give to capitalism. There is excess waste in the system that could go to use but does not. The respondent in this case provides the example of wasted pizzas. The respondent stated "homeless resulted by capitalist greed. Capitalist does not understand why people don't have jobs or food. Trash at some pizza restaurants could feed about 40 people. Government not doing enough and there a lot resources being wasted" (52).
Another Black respondent said that "we're losing jobs in this state which is causing a lot of people to be homeless because they can't work. I feel the government doesn't do enough for its own people and they're too worried about helping other people in this world instead of people in their own backyard" (152). He/she argues that our government is focused on areas that do not help the country and its people. Instead, the government is helping the outside world and forgetting the people of its country.
A White respondent stated that "some people just need to step up and find a job at least find a job and maintain themselves until they are able to get that career going on whatever their major is and not just rely on the government" (296). This respondent puts the blame on the individual and their family. He/she sees that the way out of homelessness is finding a job and maintaining a job. This is easier said than done in my opinion. Of course people should have a job and maintain themselves, but if there are not enough jobs, how could someone maintain themselves?
Another White respondent said that
"the one thing that people need to be responsible for themselves and their families need to take responsibility for their own members I think that either by helping the rich food or money were helping somebody get on their feet financially recovering and find a job where they need medical assistance incentive is either ignoring the problem were expecting that the government is going to take care of them in union were you down in anything of the community should have influence they should be a secondary action the after the family" (277).
This second white individual also believes that an individual is responsible for their own self and their family. They again talked about getting a job and that people were expecting the government to help. People do rely on the government for help because the government is there to regulate the country. If the government is not responsible to aid its people when they do need it then who does? How can someone help their family and themselves when they cannot afford to?
Quantitative
This analysis I made was between the race of the respondents and their social class. The question proposed in the survey asks what race the respondent was and what their social class was. The two major racial groups were Whites and Hispanics. The remaining races were Asian, Black, and Native. There were a total of 377 respondents who replied to this question. The majority of the participating respondents were White or Hispanic. There was 180Hispanics and 133 Whites. We only counted three Natives, 29 Blacks, and 32 Asians. From these respondents, three Whites respondents had reported to be in the lower class while we had expected there to only be approximately 14 White respondents to report being in the lower class. Whites reported to be 75 percent of the total upper class. The standard residual for Whites in the lower class was -2.9, being the largest negative difference from our expected count. Whites had a standard residual of 2.9 for responding to be in the upper middle class. We had expected there to be approximately 13 Hispanics in the upper middle class but we only counted five. We had a standard residual of -2.1 for this comparison.
The chi-square analysis shows that we have a 99.8 percent confidence level that the respondent's racial background and their social class have a significant relationship. We find that there were more whites in the upper class than all the other participating races.
Qualitative
One White respondent shared their opinion in that no matter where you started, it is up to you to save money or waste it all. He/she said
"there is people there is people that grew up in the streets and bad neighborhoods, and you have gone on and finished school and have become successful. And there is also people that are rich, they are born rich, and blow all the money and end up on the streets and maybe end up in regular middle class life. So it's just about what you do with what you have, you set your goals and figure it out. And if you have save ten buck a week, then you saves ten bucks a week, you know, to get where you want to go. So it's all about people helping other people" (244).
Another white respondent expressed that location is a variable that could affect someone's outcome on social class. He/she said "But I think that a lot more in this country that you can go, like my story, I basically came from somewhere we had no money lived in a one bedroom apartment and I basically put me through college. I make pretty decent money now. I don't think that would happen everywhere" (54). This respondent shared a positive example of moving up in social class.
A black respondent shared some downsides of not having enough money. He/she said
"well if you are rich some people like if you can make a crime and you are very rich, you can buy your way out of jail sometimes. If you're poor, you go into the store and you get some candy, you're in jail for years. You don't have the money to get the high paying lawyer, high paying judge, stuff like that. You don't have the money for that" (32).
This reference to crime expresses how much power this respondent feels someone who is wealthier is compared to someone who was poor. People with money had power.
This black respondent expressed that even though it is supposed to be a fair game, some people could have advantages over others. He/she said
"some rich is just from like the media wear as us just in general being the people that's just something we do the media has a strong impact on how much money that people are making if the top rich percent are making that much money I don't know the rich are rich some of them work hard some of them get it from consumerism it's all fair game you could say some people deathly do have an advantage though" (175).
Quantitative
Next I compared the reported work status of respondents with the social class that respondents reported. We had expected there to be approximately 7 working full time students to be in the upper middle class but we counted 13 respondents. We have a standard residual of 2.3 for this comparison. This was the largest positive difference of all the work statuses and social classes We expected there to be approximately 5 respondents to be non-employed students to be in the lower class but we saw that 8 of them reported to be in the lower class. We have a standard residual value of 1.3 for this comparison. We then saw that we had a standard residual of -1.5 for non-employed students who were in the working class. We had expected there to be 26 students but only recorded 18 students.
The chi-square analysis shows that we have more than a 98.3 percent confidence level that the respondent's work status and their social class have a significant relationship. We find that working students were least likely to be in the upper middle class and that respondent who were working full time and not students to be most likely to be in the upper middle class.
Qualitative
A working student respondent shows that they are optimistic about making it financially. Limitations are what you think you can't do. If you think you can do it, you'll have a higher chance of getting there. This respondent expresses that it's possible to move up in social class if one tries. He said:
"I think you have to go out and make a life for yourself. Some people think that just because they grow up without the same opportunities, or they think that they don't, they kind of let themselves down. They don't think they're capable of doing certain things, so they already set them up for failure when in reality they should go out and try because social classes are based on how much money you make and you choose to live your life" (154)
Another working student shared that one should work hard to earn their money. They have the mindset that doing hard work will reward you with money. This respondent thinks that people can get rich if they worked for it. This explanation means that he/she has the inspiration to be rich by working hard. He/she said:
"You have very very rich, you know that one percent, where most of the money is tied up. Not saying that it is right for the way the rich people have all their money that keep it to themselves. I diffidently think that there are people that need to work harder and there's um.... you have to work hard for what you get. You have to make forth that effort" (266)
A respondent who is a full time worker argues that people in lower classes doesn't get angry about the wealth of the upper class but rather at how they handle their money. He/she said "no, I think people who are in the lower 99% just get upset because they don't.. I don't know, they just get upset, not because they don't have the money, it's because the people who have all the money they flaunt it" (86).
This other full time worker also agrees that working harder yield more financially. He/she said
"I wasn't sure. I didn't think too much into the question, I guess I would agree more that people get what you work hard you make your money, if you're lazy or don't work as hard you're not going to make as much money. And that gap is good to see it makes people see what people at the bottom want to strive for, at least that's the way I feel personally. Like if I see something or I see someone that is doing better or making more money or is more successful then that show me a goal to strive for" (208).
This respondent feels that the social gap creates a motivational example for people to want to move up. It's a somewhat functionalistic view for society.
Quantitative
The fifth analysis included 389 respondents between the respondent's education levels and if the respondent bought food that just didn't last and they didn't have money to get more. The three education levels were 1: high school or less, 2: 2 year degree, 3: bachelor's degree or more. We expected there to be approximately 7 respondents who had a high school education or less and it was often true that the food they bought just didn't last and they didn't have money to get more. We received the largest standard residual of 2.3 from this scenario. The group who had a bachelor's degree or more had a similar standard residual of -2.0. We had expected there to be almost 25 respondents who sometimes bought food that just didn't last and they didn't have money to get more. Respondents who had a bachelor's degree or more were more likely to not have to worry about shortage of food than respondents who had some high school or less level of education.
The chi-square analysis shows that we have a 99.8 percent confidence level that the respondent's education level and the amount of food and food availability were significant. We can predict that the higher the education level, the less likely they are to be hungry.
Conclusion
Comparing racial ethnicity, work status and level of education to social class, food availability, and causes of homelessness has yield a wide variety of information. Each comparison was significant and gets us closer to understanding how people feel about homelessness, hunger, and inequality.
The analysis shows that the higher level of education someone has influences the likeliness of agreeing that people are relying too much on the government. This could be through being more successful themselves financially because education and social class are positively correlated. Money is less of an issue and would require less assistance from the government whereas someone with a lower level of education may require more assistance due to a lower financial budget. We also saw that the Black racial ethnicity group had the highest likeliness to desire more government aid and least likely to not desire government aid. Homelessness is highly influenced by money. Some racial groups have an advantage over others in terms of obtaining wealth. Education also plays a big part in a person's likeliness on obtaining wealth. The more educated a person is, the less likely they would be to needing aid from the government and not being homeless.
When we look at racial ethnicity and social classes, we find that whites were more likely to be in the upper class than any of the other racial groups in our study. There is a presence of inequality as covered by some of the supplied quotes suggesting that consumerism is an all fair game but at the same time, some people have an advantage over others. Working students were the most unlikely to be in the upper social class. This is predictable due to the heavy expense of education today. Education is not cheap and the data reflects that. On the other hand, full time workers are the most likely to be in the upper social class. This is also somewhat predictable due to their higher likeliness of a stable pay. The inequality exists due to different work status. Money is affected by how individuals work.
It should be noted that there is a bias in the data because the research only included interviews with people that participating students in the research knew or could interview at their own convenience. This also limited the range of the research because it was in majority done in the local area of where Fresno State students attended and lived. There were many White and Hispanic respondents in the study. The same size of around 400 could be improved. A higher number of samples could yield better results if it is to include more individuals of diverse backgrounds.
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