Society's Opinions of U.S. Government during the 1970's

and

Trinity Student's Opinions of U.S. Government in 2001

Hypothesis: We believed our generation would be more trusting of the government because we have been through a terrible event that the      government is now helping us cope with.  The generation that lived through the Watergate scandal went through a terrible event caused by the government.

Conclusion: We were correct.  Our generation is more likely to trust our government most of the time.

Hypothesis: We thought that it would be more likely for the earlier generation to believe that people need a wealthy family to get ahead.  This is because now people have better chances of getting a good education and rising above their class than it was in the past.

Conclusion: We were wrong.  Our generation believes is more likely to believe that it is very important to have a wealthy family to get ahead in the world. 

Hypothesis: We believed that the two generations would have similar opinions about this topic because both generations in situations that made us question how the government is protecting its citizens.

Conclusion: We were incorrect.  Our generation does not have as many people agreeing with either extreme, always worried or never worried.

(Controlled for age, not year.)

Hypothesis: We believed that our generation will be more optimistic about the economy because the government doing positive things and we have not lived through a time when they are causing the problems rather than solving them.

Conclusion: We are more optimistic because we have more people believing that the present economy will get better.