1
Individual Assignment
Quantitative Research Methods
Security Studies Year 2
, 2
Introduction
The European Social Survey is a research that monitors and interprets changing public
attitudes and values within countries in Europe (Search European Social Survey, n.d.). This
paper will research and analyze the 10th round of the survey in SPSS. Firstly, the research
question will be introduced and it will be explained how it will be answered, after which the
data and methods will be described. Additionally, this paper will be provided with an analysis
of the dataset where a bivariate test and a linear regression will help in reaching an overall
conclusion.
The research question that was established after looking through the dataset is: “Does the
placement on the political scale have an influence on individuals' perceptions of
immigration’s impact on a country’s economy, according to the 10th round of the European
Social Survey?” This research question will be answered through indicating the relationship
between the independent and dependent variable through SPSS. The independent variable is
“the placement on the left right scale” and the independent variable is “immigration bad or
good for a country's economy”.
The expected outcome of this research question is that the independent and dependent
variables are related to each other. So, the hypothesis of the research question posits that as an
individual places themselves further to the right on the political spectrum, their negative
perceptions of immigration’s impact on a country’s economy tend to increase. This is because
right-wing individuals often stress the importance of nationality, traditional values and border
surveillance (Freeden, 2001). Automatically, people on the left side of the political scale are
expected to have less negative thoughts of immigration, as social equality is an important
value in those politics (Freeden, 2001). Therefore, the null hypothesis is that the placement
on the political scale does not influence individuals' perceptions of immigration’s impact on a
country’s economy.
The research question can be linked to the field of security studies in multiple ways. First of
all, immigration can be considered as a national security problem, as large numbers of
refugees cross borders legally or illegally. As a result, governments focus on border control
and policies to protect their citizens (Roche et al., 2018).
Individual Assignment
Quantitative Research Methods
Security Studies Year 2
, 2
Introduction
The European Social Survey is a research that monitors and interprets changing public
attitudes and values within countries in Europe (Search European Social Survey, n.d.). This
paper will research and analyze the 10th round of the survey in SPSS. Firstly, the research
question will be introduced and it will be explained how it will be answered, after which the
data and methods will be described. Additionally, this paper will be provided with an analysis
of the dataset where a bivariate test and a linear regression will help in reaching an overall
conclusion.
The research question that was established after looking through the dataset is: “Does the
placement on the political scale have an influence on individuals' perceptions of
immigration’s impact on a country’s economy, according to the 10th round of the European
Social Survey?” This research question will be answered through indicating the relationship
between the independent and dependent variable through SPSS. The independent variable is
“the placement on the left right scale” and the independent variable is “immigration bad or
good for a country's economy”.
The expected outcome of this research question is that the independent and dependent
variables are related to each other. So, the hypothesis of the research question posits that as an
individual places themselves further to the right on the political spectrum, their negative
perceptions of immigration’s impact on a country’s economy tend to increase. This is because
right-wing individuals often stress the importance of nationality, traditional values and border
surveillance (Freeden, 2001). Automatically, people on the left side of the political scale are
expected to have less negative thoughts of immigration, as social equality is an important
value in those politics (Freeden, 2001). Therefore, the null hypothesis is that the placement
on the political scale does not influence individuals' perceptions of immigration’s impact on a
country’s economy.
The research question can be linked to the field of security studies in multiple ways. First of
all, immigration can be considered as a national security problem, as large numbers of
refugees cross borders legally or illegally. As a result, governments focus on border control
and policies to protect their citizens (Roche et al., 2018).
