The 2012 Charter Schools
Findings A multivariate regression analysis was conducted for all independent variables. Results of the data analysis can be found in Table 2.The regression model examines the percentage “yes” vote as the dependent variable across the 159 counties of Georgia. The most apparent variable is the percentage Romney vote. The percentage of the vote Mitt Romney received in a county was found to be statistically significant at a probability of less than .01. For every percentage increase in the Romney vote, the “yes” vote in a county declines by .403 of a percent. This may have been the most surprising statistic to come out of the research. Support for the amendment was hypothesized to be highest among Republicans but the relationship was in the opposite direction. This negative correlative supports the idea that support for the amendment was strongest in areas where support for Mitt Romney was lowest. This finding reinforces the idea that minorities were largely in support of the amendment.The graduation rate is also statistically significant at p<.01. For every percent increase in the graduation rate, the percent “yes” vote decreased by almost one fifth of a percent.This goes in line with the idea that areas with higher performing schools may not see a need to “improve student achievement” through creation of charter schools. The African American population in a county was significant at p<.05. The counties with the highest percent of African Americans overwhelmingly support the amendment. The per capita income was found to be statistically significant at p<.01. For every dollar increase in per capita income, the “yes” vote increased by .001 percent. The percentage of the population with a college degree, population density, and population under 18 are negatively associated with approval of the Charter School Amendment, but the results are not statistically significant.The independent variables explain almost half of the variance (adjusted r2 = .485) in the “yes” approval vote for the Charter Schools Amendment. A diagnostic for multicollinearity was run with all VIF scores for independent variables falling below 10. The highest VIF scores were 7.4 for the Romney vote and 6.4 for the African American population. A plot of the standardized residuals of the regression model revealed a normal distribution with a mean of zero.
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