Visit the GSS Cumulative Data file by going to http://sda.berkeley.edu/archive.htm and hitting on the most recent GSS Cumulative Data File. Do your own univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses of marital status (called “marital” in the code book) and labor force status (“wrkstat”), controlling for gender (“sex”) .

Do you remember what we said the modal marital status (married, divorced, separated, or never married) is among adults in the United States? Why don’t you check for yourself? Start the “Browse codebook” action, hit the “standard codebook,” hit the “sequential variable list,” and click on “Personal and Family Information.” Find the variable named “marital” and hit on it. Which, in fact, has been the modal marital status among adults in the United States?

Now, consider the variable “labor force status” (“wrkstat” in the code book). Which labor force status would you expect to be the most common among adults in the United States: working full time, working part time, temporarily not working, retired, in school,keeping house, or something else? State your guess.  Now find the variable named “wrkstat.” Which, infact ,is the modal labor force status among adults in the United States? Were you right?

Now consider both marital status and labor force status: Which marital status would you expect to have the greatest representation in the full-time labor force? State your guess in the form of a hypothesis. Now return to the original GSS menu (where you found the “browse codebook” option before). This time, click “frequencies and crosstabulation.” Where the menu asks for “row” variable, type “wrkstat.” Where it asks for “column” variable, type “marital.” Then “run the table.” Which marital status does, in fact,   have the greatest percentage of its members employed “fulltime”? Were you right?

Now consider the relationship between marital status and labor force participation, controlling for gender. Which marital status would you expect to have the greatest representation in the fulltime labor force for men? Which marital status would you expect to have the greatest representation in the full-time labor force for women? Now return to the original GSS menu.  This time, click “frequencies and crosstabulation.” Where  the menu asks for “row” variable, type “wrkstat.” Where it asks for “column” variable, type “marital.” Where it asks for “control” variable, type “sex.” Which marital status does, in fact, have the greatest percent-age of members employed “full-time” among men? Among women? Wereyouright?