Progress Update Three (3/4)

What am I researching?

For those who have been supporting me since the beginning, and those who are just joining my journey now, this is a brief reminder of my research! The research project that I have been working on since I embarked on my AP Research journey in August is studying what factors caused legislators in the Colorado General Assembly to vote yes or no on ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment in Colorado. My research question is: What factors contributed to Colorado to ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972? I am studying the political party, demographic data, and voting record of each legislator. I will then utilize a statistical analyze to determine if there is a significant relationship between these factors and the vote of each legislator.

Research Process

For the past several weeks, I have been focusing on data collection. For each legislator who voted on the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in the Colorado General Assembly, I record if they voted yes or no, their gender, and their voting record on three previous issues. After this process of data collection, I will use a statistical analysis to determine whether or not those factors influenced how legislators voted on the Equal Rights Amendment. My data collection has consisted of reading the Colorado General Assembly Senate and House Journals and using the Colorado General Assembly legislative records.

Personal Data Table

Above is a screenshot of one segment of my personal data table in progress. This captures all of the information I need to know about each representative in order to run my statistical test.

Colorado Senate Journals

Above is a screenshot of one segment of the senate journals I am using to identify how senators voted on each piece of legislation.

Each Factor of My Research

FACTOR ONE

For factor one of my research, I am studying whether or not the political party influenced how legislators voted on the Equal Rights Amendment. As I wait to conduct my statistical analysis, no immeidate pattern is emerging.

FACTOR TWO

Factor two of my research looks at whether or not gender influenced how legislators voted on the Equal Rights Amendment. Although I have not conducted the statistical analysis yet, a pattern is a emerging where women have been more likely to support the Equal Rights Amendment than men.

FACTOR THREE

The third factor of my research looks at the voting record of legislators on previous issues. As I wait to conduct statistical analysis, there is no pattern emerging about voting on specific bills making legislators more likely to support or reject the Equal Rights Amendment.

REFLECTION

It has been really cool to watch all the parts of my research come together, to start building the answer to my question: What factors led Colorado legislators to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment? I am so excited for statistical analysis to begin analyzing the data.

A Day in my Research

My daily routine in AP research currently consists of data collection through primary sources. I come to class, and open up my primary sources and my own personal data table. (see above) I then look my personal data table to see what factor I am collecting data for on that day.

For example, the last factor that I collected data for was previous voting record on other legislation from 1972. Analyzing this factor will help me determine if legislators who voted "yes" for the Equal Rights Amendment share a similar ideology. To collect this data, I use primary source one to identify legislation that was passed in 1972, and record how each legislator voted on it in my personal data table.

Most of my time in AP Research recently has been spent in data collection, reading the Colorado General Assembly Journals to identify the legislation I want to identify and recording how each legislator voted.

Choices and Discussion

Overall, throughout my research journey, one of the biggest choices I had to make was to not research how the media may have impacted how specific legislators voted. This was a tough decision for me, as it was a factor studied throughout of the previous literature in other states, however, I recognized the time constraints on my personal research and decided it was best to focus on factors that were specific to the individual legislators. This gave my project a more specific direction overall, and helped me narrow the scope of my research.

When I complete the statistical analysis, my data will demonstrate that certain factors may influence legislators to vote a certain way on the Equal Rights Amendment. Not only is this beneficial information in the study of history, but there is a very possible chance the Equal Rights Amendment could be voted on in congress once again. Understanding why legislators vote the way they do is critical to understanding our democracy.

Coming Next: Statistical Analysis

Up next in my research journey is data collection. I will be using a chi-squared statistical analysis test to determine if there is a significant relationship between the factors I studied, and whether or not the legislators voted for the Equal Rights Amendment. I am currently using my time to meet with Ms. Dobos and other mentors to create the specifics of my data analysis plan.

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