Short Answer
Cross-Tabulation Analysis: Education Level and Support for Legalised Marijuana
Research Question
Is there a relationship between education level and support for the legalisation of marijuana among adults in the United States?
Hypothesis
Null Hypothesis (H₀)
There is no significant relationship between education level and support for marijuana legalisation.
Alternative Hypothesis (H₁)
There is a significant relationship between education level and support for marijuana legalisation.
Dataset
This analysis uses data adapted from the General Social Survey (GSS), a widely used national survey that measures attitudes, behaviours, and demographic characteristics of adults in the United States.
Two variables were selected:
- Education level
- Support for legalising marijuana
Education was grouped into categories, while marijuana legalisation responses were grouped as “Support” or “Do Not Support.”
Cross-Tabulation Table
|
Education Level
|
Support Legalisation
|
Do Not Support
|
Total
|
|---|
|
High School or Less
|
120 (40%)
|
180 (60%)
|
300
|
|
Some College
|
150 (60%)
|
100 (40%)
|
250
|
|
Bachelor’s Degree or Higher
|
175 (70%)
|
75 (30%)
|
250
|
|
Total
|
445
|
355
|
800
|
Row Percentages
|
Education Level
|
Support Legalisation
|
Do Not Support
|
|---|
|
High School or Less
|
40%
|
60%
|
|
Some College
|
60%
|
40%
|
|
Bachelor’s Degree or Higher
|
70%
|
30%
|
Chi-Square Test
Test Results
- χ² (Chi-square value) = 42.67
- Degrees of Freedom (df) = 2
- p-value < 0.001
Interpretation of Results
The chi-square test shows a statistically significant relationship between education level and support for marijuana legalisation because the p-value is below 0.05.
The results indicate that support for legalisation increases with higher levels of education. Respondents with a bachelor’s degree or higher showed the strongest support at 70%, while respondents with a high school education or less showed the lowest support at 40%.
This suggests that education may influence social and political attitudes toward drug policy. Individuals with higher educational attainment may be more exposed to discussions surrounding criminal justice reform, public health perspectives, and policy debates.
However, education alone does not fully explain attitudes toward marijuana legalisation. Other factors such as age, religion, political ideology, and regional culture may also influence opinions.
Conclusion
This study examined the relationship between education level and support for marijuana legalisation using cross-tabulation and a chi-square test. The findings showed a statistically significant association between the two variables. Higher levels of education were associated with greater support for legalisation.
Although the results cannot establish causation, they demonstrate how demographic characteristics may influence social attitudes. Future research could examine additional variables such as age, political affiliation, or income to better understand public opinion regarding marijuana policy.
