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Euthanasia: A Data-Driven Learning Guide

Application

This guide will examine attitudinal consistency in relation to respondents' personal choices about euthanasia and along the ideological lines of religion, political affiliation, and views about the role of government. Because the survey did not include questions about passive voluntary euthanasia, this particular form of euthanasia will not be addressed in the exercise.

Personal choices

Let's begin by examining respondents' personal choices regarding end-of-life decisions, measured by the variables NOSUPPORT and INJECTION. These variables show whether respondents would consider passive euthanasia (the removal of life support) and active euthanasia (asking for an injection intended to end their life) respectively.

Take a look at the frequency distributions of NOSUPPORT and INJECTION. What percentage of respondents indicated that they would consider passive euthanasia (the removal of life support)? What percentage said they would consider active euthanasia (asking for an injection to end their life)? How would you explain the difference?

To see whether there is a relationship between people's personal choices regarding end-of-life decisions and their attitudes about euthanasia in general, we created a series of crosstabs. The first one, with ACTVOL and NOSUPPORT, looks at attitudes about active voluntary euthanasia. The second one, with ACTINVOL and NOSUPPORT, focuses on active involuntary euthanasia. Finally the crosstab of PASSINVOL and NOSUPPORT, asks about passive involuntary euthanasia. Let's examine the results of these analyses.

What percentage of those who said they would consider euthanasia for themselves also support active voluntary euthanasia? How did the respondents who indicated that they would not consider euthanasia for themselves feel about this? Scrolling down to the second results table, among which group is support for active involuntary euthanasia the highest? Now considering the third results table, would you say that the majority of respondents is for, or against, passive involuntary euthanasia? Compare the results of these three analyses: do people's attitudes about euthanasia appear to be consistent? Which groups show the most/the least consistent attitudes?

A technique sometimes used in survey research is to present respondents with slightly different versions of the same questions. Respondents are randomly selected to receive one version or the other. This allows researchers to see the effects of variations in question wording for example or, as is the case here, to explore factors that may influence respondents' attitudes.

In this survey, an example would be Q53--"A 70-year-old (A: Caucasian/B: African American) man recently suffered a stroke leaving him in a coma and unable to breathe without a respirator. His doctors say he will never regain consciousness. He has left no instructions about his own wishes in such a situation. The doctors have asked the man's family whether he should be taken off the respirator, and the family has given its consent to do so. In your opinion, would it be right to take this man off the respirator?"--where half the sample got version A (a 70-year-old Caucasian man), and the other half got version B (a 70-year-old African American man). Consider the results of the crosstab of Q53 and NOSUPPORT, controlling for version (Q14). For which group does race appear to make the most difference?

Question Q56 presented respondents with another scenario: "(A: A 23/B: An 87)-year-old woman had a heart attack that caused permanent brain damage. She is now in a coma. Her doctors say she will never regain consciousness. If you were a close relative and the doctors asked you whether this woman should be taken off the respirator, would you tell them to do so?" Again we created a crosstab with Q56 and NOSUPPORT, controlling for version (Q14).

What percentage of those who said they would never consider ending their own life under any circumstance responded that the young woman should be taken off the respirator? What percentage of the same group thought the old woman should be taken off the respirator? Are their answers consistent with those of the other two groups? (Generally speaking, do people seem more or less likely to support euthanasia in cases where the person is old?)

A third scenario (Q59) was described as follows: "A 50-year-old man was diagnosed with AIDS that he acquired from (A: a blood transfusion he received in a hospital several years ago/B: intravenous heroin use). He has been hospitalized several times in the past, and his medical care, covered by insurance, has cost more than one million dollars. Recently he was hospitalized with a serious form of pneumonia that occurs as a complication of AIDS. He is having trouble breathing and must be placed on a respirator in order to survive this episode. Should he be placed on a respirator?" Notice that while the other questions asked whether the patient should be taken off life support, in this scenario the question is whether the patient should be placed on life support.

Examine the results of the crosstab of Q59 and NOSUPPORT (using Q14 as a version control). How does the manner in which the patient contracted AIDS affect respondents' attitudes about whether he should be placed on life support?

Religious views

Religious views may also shape people's attitudes about euthanasia. The following analyses will use the variable Q111, "Religious preference," which divides the sample among five groups: Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, and "other." Note the very small number of respondents who identified as "Jewish" or "Muslim"--too few to be representative of Jews and Muslims in the general population. While we decided to include them in our analyses, we cannot draw any solid conclusion from these groups' answers.

First we will explore how the different religious groups view active voluntary euthanasia (ACTVOL), active involuntary euthanasia (ACTINVOL), and passive involuntary euthanasia (PASSINVOL). Looking at the first crosstab, among which religious group is support for active voluntary euthanasia the highest? The lowest? Scroll down to the results of the second analysis. What percentage of Protestants indicated support for active involuntary euthanasia? How about Catholics? Now considering the results of the third crosstab, look at the "Row total" column: what percentage of the sample supports passive involuntary euthanasia? Compare the results of these three analyses: do people's attitudes about euthanasia appear to be consistent? Which groups show the most/the least consistent attitudes?

Recall the three scenarios used in the previous section: the 70-year-old (A: Caucasian/B: African American) man who suffered a stroke; the (A: 23/B: 87)-year-old woman with permanent brain damage; and the 50-year-old man diagnosed with AIDS that he acquired from (A: a blood transfusion he received in a hospital several years ago/B: intravenous heroin use)--questions Q53, Q56, and Q59 respectively.

Let's see how the different religious groups reacted to the first scenario (crosstab of Q53 and Q111, controlling for version, Q14). Does the patient's race appear to make a large difference in people's attitudes about whether he should be taken off the respirator?

To examine whether the patient's age affected respondents' attitudes, we used the second scenario (Q56) in a crosstab with Q111 (Religious preference), controlling for version (Q14). According to the results of this analysis, do people appear more, less, or equally as likely to support euthanasia in cases where the person is old?

Finally, examine the results of the crosstab of Q59 and Q111 (using Q14 as a version control). How does the manner in which the patient contracted AIDS affect respondents' attitudes about whether he should be placed on life support?

Political views

Political views are measured with the variable POLVIEWS. As we did in the previous two sections, let's first explore how the different political groups view active voluntary euthanasia (ACTVOL), active involuntary euthanasia (ACTINVOL), and passive involuntary euthanasia (PASSINVOL). Looking at the first crosstab, among which political group is support for active voluntary euthanasia the highest? The lowest? Scroll down to the results of the second analysis. What percentage of Conservatives indicated support for active involuntary euthanasia? How about Liberals? Now considering the results of the third crosstab, look at the "Row total" column: what percentage of the sample supports passive involuntary euthanasia? Compare the results of these three analyses: do people's attitudes about euthanasia appear to be consistent? Which groups show the most/the least consistent attitudes?

Recall the three scenarios used in the earlier sections: the 70-year-old (A: Caucasian/B: African American) man who suffered a stroke; the (A: 23/B: 87)-year-old woman with permanent brain damage; and the 50-year-old man diagnosed with AIDS that he acquired from (A: a blood transfusion he received in a hospital several years ago/B: intravenous heroin use)--questions Q53, Q56, and Q59 respectively.

Look at the results of the crosstab of Q53 and POLVIEWS. Does the patient's race appear to make a large difference in people's attitudes about whether he should be taken off the respirator?

According to the results of the crosstab of Q56 and POLVIEWS, do people appear more, less, or equally as likely to support euthanasia in cases where the person is old?

Finally, would you say that the manner in which the patient contracted AIDS affected respondents' attitudes about whether he should be placed on life support? How so?

Views about the role of government

Debates over euthanasia often involve arguments about whether an individual should have the right to choose when and how to end her life, or whether the government should legislate such decisions. Therefore another ideological dimension that may affect people's attitudes about euthanasia is their views about the role of government, measured by the variable FREEDOM ("I should be allowed to do as I please without government intervention").

Let's explore how views about the role of government affect attitudes about active voluntary euthanasia (ACTVOL), active involuntary euthanasia (ACTINVOL), and passive involuntary euthanasia (PASSINVOL). Looking at the first crosstab, what percentage of those who support freedom from government intervention also supports active voluntary euthanasia? Scroll down to the results of the second analysis. What percentage of this same group indicated support for active involuntary euthanasia? Now considering the results of the third crosstab, look at the "Row total" column: what percentage of the sample supports passive involuntary euthanasia? Compare the results of these three analyses: do people's attitudes about euthanasia appear to be consistent? Which groups show the most/the least consistent attitudes?

We turn again to the three scenarios used in the earlier sections: the 70-year-old (A: Caucasian/B: African American) man who suffered a stroke; the (A: 23/B: 87)-year-old woman with permanent brain damage; and the 50-year-old man diagnosed with AIDS that he acquired from (A: a blood transfusion he received in a hospital several years ago/B: intravenous heroin use)--questions Q53, Q56, and Q59 respectively.

Look at the results of the crosstab of Q53 and FREEDOM. Does the patient's race appear to make a large difference in people's attitudes about whether he should be taken off the respirator?

According to the results of the crosstab of Q56 and FREEDOM, do people appear more, less, or equally as likely to support euthanasia in cases where the person is old?

Finally, would you say that the manner in which the patient contracted AIDS affected respondents' attitudes about whether he should be placed on life support? How so?

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.

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CITATION: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research. Euthanasia: A Data-Driven Learning Guide. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2011-05-19. Doi:10.3886/euthanasia

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.