Information to Users
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly fi*om the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter fece, while others may be fi’om any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing fi'om left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back o f the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Infonnation Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE GAUGING THE IMPACT OF RELIGION AND CULTURE ON PUBLIC OPINION; A MULTI-METHOD CROSS-NATIONAL AND CROSS-CULTURAL EXAMINATION OF MORMONS A Dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By JEFFREY CARL FOX Norman, Oklahoma 1998 m il Number: 9 839802 UMI Microform 9839802 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 © Copyright by JEFFREY CARL FOX 1998 All Rights Reserved. GAUGING THE IMPACT OF RELIGION AND CULTURE ON PUBLIC OPINION: A MULTI-METHOD CROSS-NATIONAL AND CROSS-CULTURAL EXAMINATION OF MORMONS A Dissertation APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project could only be accomplished with the help and sacrifice of many people. And this one seemed to require even more help than usual due to the extensive time and travel involved. Many good friends, faculty and colleagues helped me by lending intellectual, institutional, monetary, and moral support for this project. Professor Allen Hertzlce helped conceptualize and implement this project. He was always supportive of it and, at times, he was even more excited about the project than I. He continually reminded me to keep the forest in mind as I analyzed the trees. Stephen Brown at Kent State University and Sally Selden at Syracuse both provided great insight and guidance in the statistical analysis. Professors Keith Gaddie and Gary Copeland also contributed valuable comments and support for the project. Conversations with Lyman Kellstedt, James Guth, Corwin Smidt, Booth Fowler, and William Clayton Kimball were also valuable in conceptualizing this project. Finally, I also wish to thank David Magleby at BYU for his support and for letting me examine his wonderful data set even before his data was published. Rajeev Gowda was also invaluable in completing this project. He supplied intellectual support, encouragement, financial support (a job and travel support), friendship, an office and a computer. He also made it possible for me to attend academic conferences and granted extended periods away from work to conduct field research. The iv Science and Public Policy program also provided valuable institutional support for my work. The University of Oklahoma Graduate College and Graduate Student Senate provided fimds for dissertation research and conference travel. Of course, no study would be possible without willing respondents. I want to thank each of them for welcoming me into their homes and work places and allowing me to take their valuable time. I must also thank several family members and friends for allowing me to stay in their homes during the field research. Without this free hotel service and their knowledge of the local areas, I could never have conducted a study as far flung as this one. Specifically, I wish to thank the Robinson family in Mexico, the Kendricks in Texas, the Sabin family in California, the Larsons in Idaho, the Hiatts in Utah, and the Kendricks in Canada. Finally, and most importantly I owe my greatest thanks to my wonderful wife and children who endured extended time away and endless time spent reading and writing. The field work was generally conducted in tandem with family “vacations.” But as soon as we arrived at some distant location, I was quickly drawn away to conduct interviews. I am sure that they felt they lived their lives alone during both the research and the writing stages of this project. To them I owe my thanks, my apologies, and my eternal love. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... vüi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS................................................................................................ x ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................... xi PREFACE........................................................................................................................ xiii CHAPTER 1. PROBLEMS IN RELIGION AND PUBLIC OPINION RESEARCH ................... I 2. LDS POLITICAL HISTORY AND BELIEFS........................................................43 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.............................................................................93 4. LATTER-DAY SAINT SOCIO-POLITICAL WORLD VIEWS ........................120 5. RACIAL AND CULTURAL VARIATION IN LDS POLITICAL ATTITUDES .............................................................163 6. RELIGION, CULTURE, AND PUBLIC OPINION..............................................197 WORKS C IT E D ................................................................................................................239 APPENDIX 1. Q SORT STATEMENTS AND FACTOR SCORES .........................................257 2. Q SORT RESPONSE MATRIX .........................................................................262 VI 3. PUBLIC OPINION QUESTIONNAIRE...............................................................263 4. SAMPLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ................................................................. 271 5. DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS SECTION 134 ............................................. 272 6. THE FAMILY: A PROCLAMATION TO THE WORLD...................................274 7. STATEMENT ON THE POLITICAL NEUTRALITY AND NON-USE OF CHURCH BUILDINGS.................................................. 277 8. PARTICIPATION AS CITIZENS LETTER FROM THE FIRST PRESIDENCY......................................................................276 Vll LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 .1 Maddox and Lille's Ideological Categories ................................................................6 1.2 Sundquist’s Ideological Categories .............................................................................6 1.3 Ideology by LDS Religious Activity ........................................................................ 34 1.4 Partisanship by LDS Religious Activity .................................................................. 35 3.1 Q Sort Distribution M atrix ................................................................................... 102 3 .2 Elements of Political Culture in the Q Sample ..................................................... 108 4.1 Correlations Between Q Factors .......................................................................... 122 4.2 World Views by Ideological Dimensions ........................................................... 142 4.3 Second Order Factor Loadings ............................................................................. 152 4.4 Second Order Superfactor Structures .................................................................. 153 4.5 Q Sort Statement Rankings by Factor T y p e ....................................................... 160 5.1 Data Form Analyzed Using the Tau-C Statistic ................................................ 167 5.2 Issue Correlates for High-US Social Conservatives .......................................... 168 5.3 Issue Correlates for High-US Libertarians ............................................................ 170 5.4 Issue Correlates for High-US Optimistic Liberals ................................................. 172 5 .5 Issue Correlates for High-US Alienated Liberals ................................................. 173 5.6 Issue Correlates for Ambivalent-US Communitarians ........................................ 175 viii 5.7 Issue Correlates for Ambivalent-US Moderate Libertarians .............................. 176 5.8 World View Factor Scores and Respondent Characteristics ............................. 178 5.9 World Views by Nationality .................................................................................182 5.10 Ideology by Nationality ......................................................................................