This data set consider growth information on wages and union membership
for 534 workers. The datafile contains observations on 11 variables
sampled from the Current Population Survey of 1985. This data set
demonstrates multiple regression, confounding, transformations,
multicollinearity, categorical variables, ANOVA, pooled tests of
significance, interactions and model building strategies.
Usage
data(uniond)
Arguments
Details
The Current Population Survey (CPS) is used to supplement census information
between census years. These data consist of a random sample of 534 persons
from the CPS, with information on wages and other characteristics of the
workers, including sex, number of years of education, years of work experience,
occupational status, region of residence and union membership. We wish to
determine (i) whether wages are related to these characteristics and (ii)
whether there is a gender gap in wages. Based on residual plots, wages
were log-transformed to stabilize the variance. Age and work experience were
almost perfectly correlated (r=.98). Multiple regression of log wages against
sex, age, years of education, work experience, union membership, southern
residence, and occupational status showed that these covariates were related
to wages (pooled F test, p < .0001). The effect of age was not significant
after controlling for experience. Standardized residual plots showed no
patterns, except for one large outlier with lower wages than expected.
This was a male, with 22 years of experience and 12 years of education,
in a management position, who lived in the north and was not a union member.
Removing this person from the analysis did not substantially change the
results, so that the final model included the entire sample.
Adjusting for all other variables in the model, females earned 81 the wages of males (p < .0001). Wages increased 41 additional years of education (p < .0001). They increased by 11 for every additional 10 years of experience (p < .0001). Union members were
paid 23 paid 11 positions were paid most, and service and clerical positions were paid least
(pooled F-test, p < .0001). Overall variance explained was R2 = .35.
In summary, many factors describe the variations in wages: occupational
status, years of experience, years of education, sex, union membership and
region of residence. However, despite adjustment for all factors that were
available, there still appeared to be a gender gap in wages. There is no
readily available explanation for this gender gap.