Project One Ps

Gabby Peterson Political Science
Project One
Throughout my political science class, my classmates collected results from surveys having to do with race, sexual orientation, and gender. The idea and main goal was to find out whether or not these three characteristics impacted the way an individual votes or makes political decisions. The class was divided into three groups, and each group chose one of the three topics mentioned previously. Before conducting surveys for this particular project, I expected the results to be more negative than positive in all of the categories. I anticipated that most of the results would be a higher preference for heterosexual white males. However, the results were actually quite opposite. I was informed that the gender did not affect an individuals opinion whatsoever. The same results were received for the racial and sexual orientation surveys. After I spoke with my classmates who worked with the gender surveys, I received the data. The information basically stated that gender had no impact on men or women when it came to their political opinions. The group handed out surveys to these men and women to observe if there were any prejudices when it came to gender. What surprised this group was that men were not more prone to choose men, and women were not more prone to choose women. From the beginning, I wasnt quite certain how these results would turn out. I do not know many individuals who have gender prejudices or are sexist, however sexism does still exist in society today. However, I am pleasantly surprised to know that for most individuals, gender does not influence their political decisions.
I was even more skeptical when it came to the racial surveys. This group had two surveys with the same qualifications and information content, however it displayed a picture. The only difference between these two surveys were the photos of two men. One survey had a photo of a white male, and the other had a photo of an African American male. As with sexism, racism is still present in our society today. However, in certain locations, perhaps racism is more of a subconscious prejudice present in peoples minds, and not expressed vocally. I expected for the results to show that individuals were more prone to liking the white male. Perhaps my expectations are due to the fact that a great deal of major politicians in this country are Caucasian, and it is more of the norm. For my groups specific focus in this project, we observed whether or not sexual orientation impacted political decisions. We asked ourselves, Would sexual orientation change the political views that individuals men and women- have on a particular politician? To answer that question as accurately as possible, we made sure that we covered as many variables as possible. We used two surveys; one with a heterosexual man with certain qualifications and experiences, and a homosexual man with the same background. We questioned men and women with the homosexual surveys, to best get both genders opinions. Part of the group also questioned men and women with the heterosexual surveys, to see if people lean more towards heterosexual individuals, despite their credentials. The entire group hypothesized that the sexual orientation would have some impact on peoples choices. This came rather quickly and obviously to us, considering the well -known debate of gay marriage in this country. Many people have prejudices against homosexuals, whether it be due to personal or religious reasons. I think this is important to realize that we
were so quick to assume sexual orientation would have an impact on peoples decisions. I think it highlights our knowledge of prejudices, and how major and present they are in politics today. I found the questions on the survey great questions for all types of people to answer. For example, questions such as: Does he have sufficient education to be a U.S. Senator from Utah? and Does he demonstrate strong leadership skills? I think these were perfect for this type of survey, because everyone we asked responded positively to these questions, despite their political party or opinion. The extra question that we chose to add was Realistically speaking, do you think this man would ever be elected in the state of Utah? We asked this question because we were curious to see whether or not people could see him realistically winning in this state, his same beliefs and characteristics implied. What we found extremely interesting was that most individuals said no, they did not believe the homosexual man could realistically win in this state, and the heterosexual man had a slightly better chance. Some individuals were asked why they felt this way, and they stated, I think due to the fact that he is more on the democratic side and he is homosexual, he wouldnt have much of a chance in the state of Utah. Considering the information so far, most of us were completely shocked when we analyzed the results. We found that women were just as positive while filling out the homosexual survey and they were while filling out the heterosexual survey. Men were slightly less open to the homosexual survey, however it was about 85% positive results. What I found most interesting and unexpected was that all of the men that I interviewed were different religions. I interviewed men of numerous religious affiliations such as: Baptist, LDS, Methodist, Protestant, and no religious affiliation. I expected religion to greatly influence the
individuals decision, however, according to the data, it did not. Despite their religion, all of these men voted positive results for both men on the surveys. I thought this was extremely interesting, and it surprised me. This was the most memorable detail that I took away from this project. All of these individuals were different their age, religion, occupation-however, they didnt let those beliefs cloud their best judgment. Thats how I think it should always be done while making decisions, especially in politics.

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Gabby Peterson Political Science

Gabby Peterson Political Science

Gabby Peterson Political Science

Gabby Peterson Political Science

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