Introduction
Gallup pollsters researched the opinion of Americans on whether gay marriage should be allowed or not. It is estimated that around 53% of Americans support gay marriage. The sample was drawn randomly from phone records available to the polling company from the relevant authorities.
Main body
The opinion various sharply depending on the type of sample that is selected. For instance, in the recent poll, it was observed that the democrats widely supported marriage with 69% of them supporting gay marriage legalization. However, a very small proportion of the republicans, (26%), support the legalization of gay marriages. The politically independent people that supported the marriage were 58%. The proportions have increased from 1996 to date with an additional 36 % of democrats changing their minds and approving gay marriages. The independent and republican supporters have added by 26% and 10% respectively (Steffen W. Schmidt 23).
The liberal members of the population widely supported gay marriages with 80% of them in support. The individuals that are more conservative in the American society are against marriage with only 28% of those interviewed approving the marriages. 60% of the people with a moderate level of conservatives support the marriages. All the three groups have increased support for gay marriages from 1996 with the liberal people have increased by 33% and the conservative having by 14%. When the sample is classified according to age, 70% of youths in the age bracket 18 to 29 years support the legalization of gay marriages.
Those aged between 30 to 49 years have a 17% drop from the younger age bracket and the support diminishes further in the age bracket 50 to 64 years with a support percentage of 46. Those above that age bracket, including the elder citizens, have the lowest support of 41% (Pinello 17).
It is clear from the poll the interviewees feel that most Americans are opposed to gay marriage with 63% of the respondents holding the view majority of Americans are against marriage. Based on the political nature of the population, 43% of the democrats think, American society supports gay marriages and only 18% of the republicans hold the same view. 30% of politically independent individuals hold the same opinion. (Pinello 41)The liberalized society had the highest number of respondents who think the society is in favor of gay marriages. The conservative people in nature have only 16% recording that the society supported the same. 34% of the moderate individuals hold the same view. Most respondents think gay marriages will lead society into worse situations. A high proportion does not think society will change in any way (Steffen W. Schmidt 101).
Conclusion
The polls were conducted via phone interviews, having a 95% level of significance with a margin error of 3%. The significance of the error on the outcomes of the results and the general inferences made on the same is substantial. Errors can be made when sampling the individuals as the telephone interview may be biased because it would be hard to tell who is a democrat or a republican by just looking at their phone contact. Although the individuals interviewed might not have a motive to lie to the polling company the probability of mischief through the phone is high. The level of response was significantly lower as many individuals do not trust phone conversations on sensitive topics. Some of the respondents also refused to participant because the call from the polling company come to them when they were busy. Errors could have occurred due to the geographic distribution of the sample population. The use of phones is uneven throughout the population. It is more likely that the conservatives who would be against gay marriage are also not using the phones due to one reason or another. This is because most of the participants are from urban centers (Rosenthal 33). Other types of errors include non-response errors where individuals failed to give their opinions. Coverage bias is another error that occurred since the sample was only drawn from those using phones as a means of communication. The statistics acquired however give a representation of the opinion held by the population with a small margin of error.
Works Cited
Pinello, Daniel. America’s Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.pp. 17.
Rosenthal, Martha. Human Sexuality: From Cells to Society. Stamford: Cengage learning, 2012. Pp. 33.
Steffen W. Schmidt, Mack C. Shelley, II, Barbara A. Bardes.Cengage Advantage Books: American Government and Politics Today, Brief Edition, 2012-2013. Stamford: Cengage Learning, 2013. pp. 23, 101.