Voting

Introduction

The right to vote is a very important aspect of our freedom . It allows us to express our influence upon our country 's leadership and contribute to what we believe are the proper steps for the country to take through the representatives that we select to elect . Yet many people tend to take this right for granted and not exercise it during voting days Observations made during the previous elections in the house of representatives and the current observations on the upcoming 2008 elections sparked the interest to determine whether or

not age has a significant effect on wanting to vote . This study is an ex-post-facto research on voting trends according to age . Data collected are ages of respondents (quantitative , and categorization of respondents as either voting or non-voting (qualitative . Twenty (20 ) samples were collected in each category through random sampling via telephone calls . This recognizes that such a sampling technique creates a biased sampling frame of only people with telephone numbers . However , the sample is too small and the dependent variable being tested (age ) is too general for the sampling frame to have any perceived significant effect

Descriptive Statistics

Summary Voters Non-voters

Mean 42 .2 30 .6

Median 43 .5 31

Mode 50 24

Range 47 14

Standard Deviation 15 .39515 4 .615762

Inter quartile Range 22 .75 6 It can be observed that the mean age of voters are higher than non-voters . However , this is just an observation that has not yet been statistically tested . The voters also seem to have greater variability than non-voters

Confidence Interval

The 95 confidence interval for the difference between the two means can be computed by the following

42 .2 - 30 .6 - 1 .96 sqrt[ (15 .39515^2 4 .615762^2 /20] 11 .6 - 7 .1

Thus the confidence interval for the difference is from 4 .9 to 18 . This means that we are 95 sure that the average age of voters is from 4 .9 to 18 . years higher than that of non-voters

Hypothesis Testing

Ho : There is no significant difference between the means of the ages of voters and non-voters

Ha : There is a significant difference between the means of the ages of voters and non-voters

Test Statistic : z-test

Confidence level : 0 .05

Critical Value : 1 .96

Results Summary

Voters Non-voters

Mean 42 .2 30 .6

Known Variance 237 .0105 21 .30526

Observations 20 20

Hypothesized Mean Difference 0

z 3 .227733

p-value 0 .001248 Analysis : The observed value of 3 .23 is greater than the critical value of 1 .96 . Since the p-value is 0 .001248 , this means that there is only a 0 .01 chance that the null hypothesis is correct . This is less than the confidence level of 0 .05 or 5 chance

Decision : Reject Ho

Conclusion : There is a significant difference between the means of the ages of voters and non-voters

Conclusion

Based on the data analysis conducted , there is significant evidence in the mean ages of voters and non-voters . Going back to the computed means...