General Social Survey, 2002

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GETAHEAD Some people say that people get ahead by their own hard work; others say that lucky breaks or help from other people are more important. Which do you think is most important?   1) Hard work important   2) Hard work, luck equally important   3) Luck most important   8) Don't know   9) No answer

Pie Chart Bar Chart Cumulative Bar Chart

Category	Frequency	Percentage	Cumulative Percentage	Z-Score
Hard work important	578	62.6%	62.6%	-.6
Hard work, luck equally important	248	26.8%	89.4%	.57
Luck most important	92	10%	99.4%	1.73
Don't know	5	.5%	99.9%	7.55
No answer	1	.1%	100%	8.71

Variable Comparisons

Race Marital status Age Family income Political ideology Religion Education Sex

Race (I-RACE)

	White	Black	TOTAL
Hard work important	62.3% 465	64.2% 79	62.6% 544
Hard work, luck equally important	28.2% 210	21.1% 26	27.2% 236
Luck most important	9.1% 68	13.0% 16	9.7% 84
Don't know	0.3% 2	1.6% 2	0.5% 4
No answer	0.1% 1	0.0% 0	0.1% 1
TOTAL	100.0% 746	100.0% 123	869

Marital status (I-MARITAL)

	Married	Widowed	Divorced	Separated	Never married	TOTAL
Hard work important	64.5% 265	57.1% 48	62.0% 88	67.6% 25	60.8% 152	62.6% 578
Hard work, luck equally important	27.3% 112	29.8% 25	24.6% 35	21.6% 8	27.2% 68	26.8% 248
Luck most important	8.0% 33	13.1% 11	12.0% 17	10.8% 4	10.8% 27	10.0% 92
Don't know	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	1.4% 2	0.0% 0	1.2% 3	0.5% 5
No answer	0.2% 1	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.1% 1
TOTAL	100.0% 411	100.0% 84	100.0% 142	100.0% 37	100.0% 250	924

Age (I-AGE)

	18-30	31-44	45-64	65+	TOTAL
Hard work important	67.0% 130	61.0% 147	61.0% 189	62.6% 112	62.6% 578
Hard work, luck equally important	26.3% 51	26.6% 64	28.4% 88	25.1% 45	26.8% 248
Luck most important	6.2% 12	12.4% 30	10.0% 31	10.6% 19	10.0% 92
Don't know	0.5% 1	0.0% 0	0.6% 2	1.1% 2	0.5% 5
No answer	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.6% 1	0.1% 1
TOTAL	100.0% 194	100.0% 241	100.0% 310	100.0% 179	924

Family income (I-FINCOME)

	Less than $10K	$10K-19,999	$20K-24,999	$25K or over	TOTAL
Hard work important	61.0% 50	58.7% 71	72.7% 48	62.9% 348	62.9% 517
Hard work, luck equally important	22.0% 18	28.9% 35	16.7% 11	27.7% 153	26.4% 217
Luck most important	17.1% 14	11.6% 14	9.1% 6	9.2% 51	10.3% 85
Don't know	0.0% 0	0.8% 1	1.5% 1	0.2% 1	0.4% 3
No answer	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.0% 0
TOTAL	100.0% 82	100.0% 121	100.0% 66	100.0% 553	822

Political ideology (I-POLITICS)

	Liberal	Moderate, middle of the road	Conservative	Don't know	TOTAL
Hard work important	61.1% 140	61.2% 221	65.5% 201	58.3% 14	62.5% 576
Hard work, luck equally important	28.8% 66	28.0% 101	24.1% 74	25.0% 6	26.8% 247
Luck most important	9.6% 22	10.2% 37	10.1% 31	8.3% 2	10.0% 92
Don't know	0.4% 1	0.6% 2	0.0% 0	8.3% 2	0.5% 5
No answer	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.3% 1	0.0% 0	0.1% 1
TOTAL	100.0% 229	100.0% 361	100.0% 307	100.0% 24	921

Religion (I-RELIGION)

	Protestant	Catholic	Jewish	None	Other	Don't know	TOTAL
Hard work important	62.9% 293	63.8% 146	46.7% 7	64.7% 90	56.3% 40	100.0% 1	62.6% 577
Hard work, luck equally important	27.0% 126	25.8% 59	46.7% 7	23.7% 33	29.6% 21	0.0% 0	26.7% 246
Luck most important	9.9% 46	9.2% 21	6.7% 1	10.8% 15	12.7% 9	0.0% 0	10.0% 92
Don't know	0.2% 1	0.9% 2	0.0% 0	0.7% 1	1.4% 1	0.0% 0	0.5% 5
No answer	0.0% 0	0.4% 1	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.1% 1
TOTAL	100.0% 466	100.0% 229	100.0% 15	100.0% 139	100.0% 71	100.0% 1	921

Education (I-EDUC)

	Less than high school	High school	Associate/Junior college	Bachelor's	Graduate	TOTAL
Hard work important	69.7% 101	64.3% 308	56.7% 38	54.4% 80	59.5% 50	62.6% 577
Hard work, luck equally important	20.7% 30	24.0% 115	34.3% 23	33.3% 49	36.9% 31	26.9% 248
Luck most important	8.3% 12	11.3% 54	9.0% 6	11.6% 17	3.6% 3	10.0% 92
Don't know	1.4% 2	0.4% 2	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.4% 4
No answer	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.7% 1	0.0% 0	0.1% 1
TOTAL	100.0% 145	100.0% 479	100.0% 67	100.0% 147	100.0% 84	922

Sex (I-SEX)

	Male	Female	TOTAL
Hard work important	64.4% 320	60.4% 258	62.6% 578
Hard work, luck equally important	24.9% 124	29.0% 124	26.8% 248
Luck most important	10.3% 51	9.6% 41	10.0% 92
Don't know	0.4% 2	0.7% 3	0.5% 5
No answer	0.0% 0	0.2% 1	0.1% 1
TOTAL	100.0% 497	100.0% 427	924