The National Youth Election Survey Report: A Subgroup Analysis of Political and Civic Participation among Canadian Youth
Appendixes
Appendix A. Sampling Information and Variable Description
Sampling
The 2015 NYS includes a national randomly selected sample stratified by age, gender, and region (n = 2,255), as well as a purposive (non-probabilistic) oversampling of specific youth subgroups, including Aboriginal youth. In total, 3,009 Canadians participated in the survey, which included a subsample of older citizens, ages 35 and older (n = 503). Approximately two-thirds of respondents in the randomized national sample were contacted by cell phone or landline (n = 1,503) with the remaining one-third of respondents from the nationally representative youth sample completing the survey online (n = 752). All respondents from the stratified sample of adults ages 35 and over were contacted by a telephone survey. Respondents in the purposive oversampling were recruited through online panels and specialised panels of Aboriginal youth. Table A1 presents sample characteristics. Data were weighted by age and gender within regions (according to the 2011 census).
Subgroups | Sample Size |
---|---|
Female (60.0%) | n = 1503 |
Aboriginal (9.94%) | n = 249 |
Age Group (18–22 years old) | n = 1078 |
Age Group (23–29 years old) | n = 819 |
Age Group (30–34 years old) | n = 609 |
Region - Atlantic | n = 163 |
Region - Quebec | n = 509 |
Region - Ontario | n = 1044 |
Region - Prairies (Saskatchewan and Manitoba) | n = 214 |
Region - West (Alberta, BC) and Territories | n = 332 |
Descriptive Statistics and Explanation of Independent Variables
Variable | N | Mean | SD | Min | Max |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cynicism | 3009 | 0.450 | 0.210 | 0 | 1 |
Knowledge | 3007 | 0.560 | 0.290 | 0 | 1 |
Age | 3009 | 29.67 | 12.91 | 18 | 91 |
The construction of the variable Cynicism is described in footnote 10 in the main body of the text. Knowledge corresponds to the share of correct answers to the five following questions in the NYS questionnaire, of which the first three are multiple-choice and the last two are open-ended:
- "Which party won the most seats in the federal election held on October 19th?" (Variable QI1 in the NYS 2015)
- "Which level of government has primary responsibility for education – federal, provincial, or municipal?" (Variable QI2 in the NYS 2015)
- "Which level of government has primary responsibility for employment insurance – federal, provincial, or municipal?" (Variable QI3 in the NYS 2015)
- "What is the name of the premier of your Province or Territory?" (Variable QI4 in the NYS 2015)
- "Now we have a question about a public figure, David Cameron. What job or political office does he now hold?" (Variable QI5 in the NYS 2015)
Variable / Group | N | % | Description | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Post-Secondary Education | No | 721 | 24.2 | Recode of variable QJ3 in the NYS 2015 |
Yes | 2256 | 75.8 | ||
Income Above $40,000 | No | 1267 | 48 | Recode of variable INCOME in the NYS 2015 |
Yes | 1371 | 52 | ||
Have Recently Moved | No | 1792 | 61 | Recode of variable QJB in the NYS 2015 |
Yes | 1144 | 39 | ||
Children | No | 2102 | 70.5 | Recode of variable QJ10 in the NYS 2015 |
Yes | 878 | 29.5 | ||
Interest in the Election | No | 355 | 12 | Recode of variable QB8 in the NYS 2015 |
Yes | 2608 | 88 | ||
Interested in Politics | No | 571 | 19.2 | Recode of variable QB9 in the NYS 2015 |
Yes | 2402 | 80.8 | ||
Voting is a Civic Duty | No | 1452 | 48.9 | Recode of variable QF5A in the NYS 2015 |
Yes | 1518 | 51.1 | ||
Received the Voter Card | No | 668 | 22.3 | Recode of variable QB4 in the NYS 2015 |
Yes | 2328 | 77.7 | ||
Political Mobilisation | No | 1181 | 39.2 | Recode of variable QB13 in the NYS 2015 |
Yes | 1828 | 60.8 | ||
Family Mobilisation | No | 866 | 28.8 | Recode of variable QB15A in the NYS 2015 |
Yes | 2143 | 71.2 | ||
Mobilised by Friends or Teachers | No | 898 | 29.8 | Recoded combination of variables QB15B and QB15D in the NYS 2015 |
Yes | 2111 | 70.2 | ||
Contacted by Media | No | 968 | 33.1 | Recode of variable QB15E in the NYS 2015 |
Yes | 1956 | 66.9 | ||
Contacted by an Organisation | No | 1997 | 69.2 | Recode of variable QB15H in the NYS 2015 |
Yes | 889 | 30.8 |
Appendix B. Additional Tables
(36) Voting |
(37) Political Participation |
(38) Civic Participation |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AME | SE | AME | SE | AME | SE | |
Youth (<35) | -0.20 *** | (0.02) | 0.02 | (0.03) | -0.03 | (0.03) |
Observations | 2953 | 3009 | 3009 | |||
Pseudo R 2 | 0.03 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
Note: Standard errors in parentheses. + p < 0.10, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001. Youth is a dichotomous predictor.
(39) Full Model |
||
---|---|---|
b | SE | |
Post-Secondary Education | 0.36 * | (0.17) |
Income Above $40,000 | -0.15 | (0.15) |
Have Recently Moved | -0.13 | (0.15) |
Children | 0.34 | (0.30) |
Children # Female | -1.02 ** | (0.36) |
Female | 0.35 + | (0.18) |
Interested in the Election | 1.51 *** | (0.25) |
Interested in Politics | 0.66 ** | (0.21) |
Pol. Cynicism (Scale, 0–1) | -2.10 *** | (0.40) |
Voting is a Civic Duty | 1.70 *** | (0.16) |
Pol. Knowledge (Scale, 0–1) | 1.49 *** | (0.30) |
Received the Voter Card | 1.63 *** | (0.17) |
Political Mobilisation | 0.32 * | (0.15) |
Family Mobilisation | 0.55 ** | (0.17) |
Mobilised by Friends or Teachers | 0.05 | (0.18) |
Contacted by Media | -0.56 ** | (0.18) |
Interested in the Election | -0.15 | (0.18) |
Interested in Politics | -2.85 *** | (0.41) |
Observations | 1999 | |
Pseudo R 2 | 0.36 |
Note: Logit coefficients. + p < 0.10, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001. Unless stated otherwise, predictors are dichotomous and coded as 0 or 1.
Age Effects AME |
|
---|---|
Youth (<35) | -0.05 |
Age (continuous variable) | 0.00+ |
Post-Secondary Education | 0.03+ |
Income Above $40,000 | -0.02 |
Have Recently Moved | -0.01 |
Children | -0.03+ |
Interested in the Election | 0.20*** |
Interested in Politics | 0.07** |
Pol. Cynicism (Scale, 0–1) | -0.20*** |
Voting is a Civic Duty | 0.20*** |
Pol. Knowledge (Scale, 0–1) | 0.15*** |
Received the Voter Card | 0.20*** |
Political Mobilisation | 0.03* |
Family Mobilisation | 0.06*** |
Mobilised by Friends or Teachers | 0.01 |
Contacted by Media | -0.05** |
Contacted by an Organisation | -0.01 |
Observations | 2441 |
Pseudo R2 | 0.37 |
Note: + p < 0.10, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001. Unless stated otherwise, predictors are dichotomous and coded as 0 or 1.