Alissa Bullock

Mr. Ferlo
Pols 1100
17 February 2016
Project One

My group and I had the surveys that focused on gender-analysis. Our

surveys consisted of the same criteria of education, background, community
service, and issue positions. The only difference between the two types of
surveys that we had was the gender. One was a male and one was a female.
The reason that they had the same criteria and background was to focus
mainly on the gender and to see if voters would be biased and base their
votes or opinions based on just if they are a male or female. Working to
answer this question, I gave half of the surveys for Patricia to females and
the other half to males. I did this because I wanted an even variety and I
wanted to test both genders. I did the same thing with the surveys for
Patrick, gave two to females and two to males.

My hypothesis and my groups hypothesis stated that the majority of

the surveys done for Patrick would be high rating and that they would want
to vote for him. We also thought that the surveys done for Patricia would not
be as impressive as the ones done for Patrick and that people would not be
as likely to vote for her as they were for Patrick. We thought this because we
thought that people would be more drawn to the male being the leader over
the female because thats the way it normally is done and I know that a lot of
people feel like male leadership is the way that society is supposed to be
run. Women did not even get the right to vote until the 19th amendment was
passed by Congress in 1919 and ratified in 1920. Before this amendment
was passed, the male in the family would have all the power and would vote.
Even when the amendment was passed, it took a while for women to get
used to having equal voting rights as males because they had never had it
before. Women did not even get the chance to really have any power or hold
office before this amendment. Even after and even today, I feel like people
are still not as comfortable having a woman leader as they are having a male
leader. They are more comfortable voting for a male leader, no matter if the
male or the female have the same criteria and background knowledge. This
was our hypothesis and what we wanted to test as we did these surveys.

My methodology for my surveys was to distribute them in ways that

would get the widest variety. I did this by having a total of eight surveys. I
had four for Patricia and four for Patrick. I gave two of the surveys for
Patricia to males and the other two to females. I did the same thing with my
surveys for Patrick; two to females and two to males. Another factor that I
took into account was age groups. I divided up the age groups ranging from
18 to 65 as best as I could, varying from males and females. I thought that
with these two factors into play that I would get the best results from the
surveys. The additional question our group wanted to add was why the
person we were surveying thought that Patricia or Patrick would be a good
candidate or not. We added this question because we wanted to know the
specific reasons why someone thought that they were a qualified candidate
and also look at specific reasons for what someone might be looking for in a
candidate. This was an interesting question that made me open my eyes. It
made me open my eyes because it was cool to see what certain people look
for or want in their political leader and also what areas of qualification that
they focus on as voters.

Most of the people that we interviewed were of the Latter-Day Saint

religious affiliation which was not too surprising. A couple of them were
Catholic, and a few people did not have a religious affiliation. A couple of
people were Atheist as well. I think we had a good diversity for our religious
side. Our results varied a lot more than I thought they would, ranging all of
the way from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree. On question number
two it asked if the candidate had sufficient work experience to be U.S.
Senator from Utah. Some of the candidates work experience consisted of
working at several restaurants in Salt Lake City while attending the
University of Utah, interning with the Chicago Community Development
Organization, working for 18 years as a licensed clinical social worker in Salt
Lake City, and the founder and current director of the Wasatch Front Regional
Social Services Network. I noticed that only four people strongly agreed with
that for Patricia, but only one person strongly agreed with that for Patrick.
This actually surprised me because it went against our hypothesis just a
little. Nobody strongly disagreed on this question, not for Patrick or for
Patricia. Also, the religious affiliations were pretty widespread for this one.

On question number three, the question asked if the candidate had and
demonstrated strong leadership skills. Some of the things that maybe could
have shown their leadership skills are that the candidate was an elected
member of the Taylorsville City Council and an appointed member of the Salt
Lake Community College Board of Trustees. Six people strongly agreed for
Patrick, most of which being LDS. Three being males and three being
females so we got a pretty wide variety on this one as well. Only three

people strongly agreed for Patricia, two being female and one being male.
The majority of the people we surveyed for Patrick and Patricia voted Agree
for this question. Something that was interesting on this one to me was that
4 people disagreed for Patricia, but no one strongly disagreed. Two people
disagreed for Patrick and one strongly disagreed. Again, this kind of goes a
little against our hypothesis because we thought that more people would be
for Patrick more than they were for Patricia and the results for this question
opposed this.

For question number four, the question asked if the candidate has the
kinds of life experiences that will help them understand average Utahans.
Some of their life experiences include a volunteer soccer coach for Salt Lake
County Parks and Recreation, and an active member of their church. I like
how they are a volunteer soccer coach because I think that that can relate to
a lot of average parents out there who end up being the coach for their
childrens soccer teams. All of the people that strongly agreed with this
question for Patricia were under the age of 21. There were four people that
voted Strongly Agree. Three people strongly agreed with this question for
Patrick, however, a good thing about this was that all three were spread out
in three different age groups when for Patricia, they were all in one. Most
people selected Agree when voting for Patricia when most people voted
Neutral for Patrick. When analyzing the results for this question I noticed
that they went along more with our groups hypothesis, however, not as
much as we were thinking. The majority of the votes for Patricia were pretty
high and most agreed, however, the majority of the votes for Patrick were
lower than those for Patricia. Two people did strongly disagree when voting
for Patricia, while only one strongly disagreed when voting for Patrick. The
one that strongly disagreed with Patrick was under the age of 21 which was
kind of interesting to me because in that same age group, when voting for
Patricia, they strongly agreed. This was interesting to me because it shows
that maybe that age group is more for woman leaders than we anticipated.
That age group is also the future generation and leaders of the political world
so it will be interesting to see what happens as far as leaders go as the
generation gets older.

Question number five asked if the voter supports more of the

candidates policies than they oppose. This was an interesting question to
me because it really makes the voter think about what they really look for
and support and think if they do actually support more than they oppose.
The people that strongly agreed for both Patrick and Patricia were in the
under 21 age group. The majority of the people for both Patrick and Patricia
lied in the Agreed or Neutral section. More people strongly disagreed
when voting for Patrick than Patricia, however, the voting on this question

was pretty even as far as it is widespread and ranging between age groups
and whether they agreed or disagreed. It is also pretty widespread between
religions because there were not even very many religions that we had to
use in the first place.

I was slightly surprised with the results that we got because they sort
of went against our hypothesis. For our hypothesis, we stated that we
thought that more people would be in favor of Patrick over Patricia because
of the fact that he is male and she is female and our political leaders tend to
be male. However, thanks to our results, we found out that that may not be
the case anymore. For each question, although they may have varied from
age groups, the number of good votes (Strongly Agreed or Agreed) was
pretty even from Patrick and Patricia while the number of bad votes
(Disagreed or Strongly Disagreed) was actually slightly more in favor of
Patrick over Patricia. Looking at it from a further point of view, however, the
voting seems to be pretty even and maybe almost even a tie. The winner of
the election could go either way in my opinion.

Perhaps our nation is turning away from the male-dominance

mindset that we have had since our birth as a nation. Having the Founding
Fathers, it immediately set our minds into the fact that men ruled our
country. Systemic inequality doesnt just happen, people get up and do it
every day. For example, women are paid less than men. This surprises me
and frankly, it is not okay with me. I do not understand why this is still a
thing. Women do the same jobs as men and do just as good in those jobs.
Certain jobs should give certain pay, no matter the gender. Im not a
feminist, but I am a person who promotes equality, and women getting paid
less than men do does not promote that and needs to change. I was reading
an article about why women are not equally represented in office and it said
that at the rate that it is going right now, it would take nearly 500 years for
women to reach fair representation in government. Why is it taking so long?
Perhaps, it will not take that long. I say this because of this study with these
surveys. It seems like we are getting more and more okay with women
representatives and women having the power, I just want to see the literal
change. If we are okay with it, why is it not happening? If we want equality,
why are women still getting paid less?

According to the same article that I mentioned earlier written by

Steven Hill, America was ranked 98th in the world for percentage of women in
its national legislature in 2014. According to a study mentioned in the
article, the presence of more women in legislatures makes a significant
difference in terms of the policy that gets passed. The article also mentions

that globally, research has shown that ethnically diverse and divided nations
that elect women rather than men to key national leadership offices end up
with better economic performance. So why isnt America practicing this
today? Some may say that we are. But how? Yes, women have made an
incredible amount of progress in the last century, but we still have a long
way to go. Women today make up about 50.8% of the population but hold
only 18.5 percent of congressional seats and make up only 20 percent of U.S.
senators. So what can America do to change? Some of the worlds leaders
in electing women which include Sweden and Finland make electing women
into office a priority. Most of their political parties prioritize recruitment of
female candidates, some even requiring positive quotas where half their
candidates are women. Why doesnt America have something like this? If
there is concrete evidence that having women in office makes a better
economic performance, why arent we enforcing it like we should?

Although we still have some work to do, we are definitely making

progress and it seems like a lot of progress is on its way. With a woman in
the running for president, and the surveys showing that people are not
biased based on gender, I think that more women will be elected into office.
With more women elected into office, if studies are correct, we will have a
better economic performance. I sincerely hope that this will happen in the
future for America and also for women. We are a country that adapts to
change and so we need to adapt to the change that women should be in
office and they should have that privilege just as much as men should have
that privilege.

In conclusion, by participating in these surveys and analyzing them as

well, I came to the knowledge that America is not as gender-biased as we
may think. We are on a good track to a better America. With the votes
being pretty evenly spread between Patricia and Patrick, it shows that people
are more interested in qualifications than they are gender. This gives me
hope. People will judge their political candidates based on background
information, education, work experience, and issue positions than they will
by the name behind it. If this will become a more normal and widespread
thing throughout America, we will be electing leaders that will be the best
choice that we have and that will make the better difference for America and
our future.

For future groups doing the same surveys I would suggest to bring
their surveys outside of their family units. Families tend to have similar
political views and understandings. If they spread it outside of that, perhaps
by going to the mall and asking strangers, they would receive a more

accurate representation of what people may actually think and look for. Also,
I would recommend doing some research about the topic beforehand. I
would tell them to go online and look to see how political views are changing
before they form their hypothesis because things regarding politics change
fast. I would also recommend to them to get as much diversity as they
possibly can. They can get this by getting varying age groups for each
survey. They can vary from male and female more accurately and perhaps
spread some more religious variety into their surveys. By adding so much
diversity, the results will be more accurate and they will have more
information to work with.