Gender Role Attitudes in Japan: A Data-Driven Learning Guide

Application

In this application, we will explore the relationship between gender role attitudes and various demographic characteristics using crosstabulation.

Gender Role Attitudes by Gender

First consider individuals' views on whether married women should work. The variable Q4WWJBIA contains responses to the question, "Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? If a husband has sufficient income, it is better for his wife not to have a job." We recoded Q4WWJBIA into two categories representing general agreement or disagreement and dropped the respondents who did not answer. Looking at this new variable, WIFEWORK, what do you notice about people's responses?

A crosstabulation allows us to examine the relationship between WIFEWORK and gender, which is measured by the variable SEXA. Do men and women hold the same attitudes about whether married women should work? What makes you answer the way you did?

Next, look at the variable WOMANHAPPY, which contains answers to the question, "Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Without a doubt, a woman's happiness lies in a marriage." Answers to this question are coded 1 for "agree" and 2 for "disagree." (We recoded Q4WNMGA as above.)

Now look at the crosstab of WOMANHAPPY with SEXA. Are men and women equally likely to agree that women's happiness is based in marriage?

Finally, consider the relationship between gender and whether individuals believe that young children suffer if their mothers work outside the home. Again use a crosstab, this time with MOMWORK (recoded from Q4JBMMCC as above) and SEXA. Do men and women have different attitudes toward mothers' work outside the home? Look in particular at the bar chart. What does it show?

Gender Role Attitudes by Age

Next we'll examine the relationship between gender role attitudes and age. We recoded the age variable, AGEB into three categories: 20-40, 41-64, and 65 and older. We called the new variable AGEGROUP. ROLES is a recode of Q4WWHHX, which asks respondents to agree or disagree with the statement, "A husband's job is to earn money; a wife's job is to look after the home and family." Look at a crosstabulation of AGEGROUP and ROLES. Does there appear to be a relationship between age and attitudes about gender roles? What percent of those under age 40 agreed with the statement? What about among those over 65?

Finally, run crosstabs of the other gender role attitudes with age (WIFEWORK, MOMWORK, and WOMANHAPPY). Is the pattern similar for these measures of gender role attitudes? How do the age groups differ in their attitudes toward wives working? Does the same pattern hold for attitudes toward mothers working? Do the age groups hold different attitudes about marriage as a source of happiness for women? Which question shows the most variability among the age groups?

Note: The online data analysis system (DAS) used on this site uses a system called Survey Documentation and Analysis (SDA), developed and maintained by the Computer-assisted Survey Methods Program (CSM) at the University of California, Berkeley. Documentation for DAS/SDA can be found on their Web site.

Goal & Concept - Dataset - Application - Interpretation & Summary - Bibliography