Raise the Minimum Wage

The Raise will Help the Economy

Raise is a Good Idea Current Wage is NOT a Sufficient Living

Wage

20

30

40

50

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70

80

90

100

75

50

75

88

67

25

50

8381

43

43

81

83

50

83

100

88

38

50

88

Political Ideology(Number of Participants)

Independent (8)

Conservative (12)

Liberal (16)

Other (6)

Prefer Not to Say (8)

Survey Answer

Perc

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f Res

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(%)

Overall, the hypothesis of this research was proven. This research showed that articles that contradict a reader’s attitudes towards an issue tend to produce a greater change in opinion than articles that agree with a reader’s previously held notions. In some cases, opinions did not change in the direction we expected, and in other cases, the change was less significant than expected, but the responses did change as a result of reading the politically framed news article excerpts, and that falls in line with our hypothesis.

Researchers found a surprising outcome of the survey in one case. Ten conservative subjects read the liberal frame, seven out of this ten thought the minimum wage should be increased, and overall approval of that raise dropped after reading the liberal frame. This was surprising because the liberal frame was expected to have the opposite reaction on participants. If 70% of these ten conservatives favored increasing the minimum wage, it was expected that this percentage would rise in subsequent questions after having read the liberal article which discussed the economic benefits and disproved the common “job loss” argument. This same reaction can be seen from respondents who preferred not to disclose their political ideology, although they had a much more drastic decrease in approval compared to the conservative subjects when asked if the raise will help the economy.

It was estimated that the participants would be swayed as a result of reading the politically framed excerpts. The outcome shows that this is true, but not in a way that many of the researchers expected. It is plain to see that before exposure to either excerpt, the majority of participants believed that the minimum wage should be raised. After exposure to either excerpt, a generally large decrease in support for raising the minimum wage can be seen, followed by an overall increase made in minor increments.

Participants consistently did not believe that raising the minimum wage would help the economy, yet they consistently answered that the current minimum wage is not a sufficient “living wage.”

Bateson (1971) – The central idea of the book was that the world people live in is different from their perceptions of that world, because they choose the reality that most conforms to their preferred ideas about the way the world works (Bateson, 1971). Bateson argues that everyone has their own frame, or personal perception of the world, and changing it requires the presentation of new believable evidence (1971). Entman (1993) – The concept of framing is the key to establishing a hypothesis and conducting this research because it allows research on the change of public opinion based on the treatment of an issue in the mass media. Chong and Druckman (2007) – They describe the theory of “framing effects” as the basic effects that framing by political elites have on the opinions and attitudes held by their audiences. Framing effects have an impact on our research through the media’s regular use of statistics in the articles that are submitted for public view. Nelson, Oxley and Clawson (1997) – Their focus was on psychological mechanisms of media persuasion and framing influences toward political attitudes through the examination of politically framed messages (Nelson et al., 1997). They also discussed the differences between framing and traditional theories on belief change (Nelson, Oxley & Clawson, 1997). Their specific test hypothesis related to the notion of framing effects and subject sophistication (Nelson, Oxley & Clawson, 1997). This research is intended to build on this previous research and test the framing method on the prevailing opinion held by the public wherein the majority of people support raising the minimum wage (Quinnipiac, 2014).

The current minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Previous increases in the minimum wage have never exceeded more than 70¢ at a time. However, the proposed increase is $2.85 above the current minimum wage. Current Political Climate: The conservative argument consists of the business ramifications of the raise, increased pressures on business owners to cut financial corners, and employees being the first line of defense against business failure (Weissmann, 2013). The liberal argument presented discusses how the proposed increase will bring the lower middle class out of poverty (Weismann, 2013). This is an attempt at a representation of the current political climate surrounding the rise in minimum wage. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology created a living wage calculator based on government data including food, housing, transportation, child and health care, based on the county in which people live; it was found that the current wage is not practical for providing for a family, and the increase to $10.10 will also be insufficient as the cost of living continues to rise (Fox, 2014). Role of the States: There has been a group of states, primarily in the Northeast, that have raised their state minimum wage above the Federal figure. Washington currently has the highest state minimum wage at $9.32. Oregon and California follow in a close second and third also with figures above the $9 mark. These efforts at the state level have fueled President Barack Obama’s efforts to raise the national minimum wage (Weissmann, 2013).

Hypothesis: If the mass media frames an issue, then the public opinion will be changed.MethodsIn order to evaluate whether participants experience a change in their policy opinions because of framing effects, the two surveys gathered basic demographic information and data on opinion toward minimum wage before exposing each participant to a policy frame. This policy frame of each excerpt was different in both surveys, either placing the proposed increase of minimum wage in a positive or negative light, but that was the only difference between the two surveys. The purpose of this research is to see if the policy frames have an impact on participants’ stance on the issue at hand, which is the raising of federal minimum wage. Therefore, a survey was chosen as the method of data collection to discover if there was a change in opinion as opposed to a video or picture portrayal of minimum wage. A survey was chosen over other methods of data gathering because of production limitations like time and cost. Sample CharacteristicsThe survey was administered to people found at Texas Woman’s University Denton campus and in classrooms. This focus on TWU’s Denton campus could produce bias in the results but this bias was taken into consideration when analyzing the data and applying the research to a broader real-world context. Treatments (Independent Variable)There were two different types of surveys randomly assigned to a group of one hundred participants, and the surveys both consisted of three basic parts. The only differences present were in the second part of each survey.The policy frame was presented in this second part. Half of the surveys contained a more “liberal” frame containing ideas that the minimum wage increase is a positive thing that will help the economy and arguing against those who say an increase would negatively impact the economy. The other half of the surveys employed a more “conservative” frame. This excerpt presents the increase in a more negative light suggesting it will hurt the economy and do more harm than good. Each excerpt was chosen because it was partisan, but not enough to make the bias overwhelming to the participants in this research. These media excerpts were distributed without the citations of the news articles used in order to prevent any decision making based on name recognition on the part of the participants. Dependent Variable – Survey Responses(Reflection of Current Public Opinion) The dependent variable is the third portion of which can be seen as a representation of public opinion. According to a recent poll , 71 percent of voters support raising the minimum wage (Quinnipiac, 2014). Even among polls that only analyze data taken from people who identify as Republican, support is around 52 percent for increasing the minimum wage (Quinnipiac, 2014). These polls represent the baseline that this survey used to form questions. These poll numbers represent an already convinced public opinion clearly leaning in support of raising minimum wage.

Chong, D. & Druckman, J. N. (2007). Framing theory. Annual Review of Political Science. Editors. (2004, April 16). Raise the minimum wage. Bloomberg Personal Finance. Entman, R. M. (1996, June). Reporting environmental policy debate: The real media biases. Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, 1(3). Fox, E. J. (2014, January 22). My minimum wage isn't a living wage. CNN Money. Krugman, P. (2013, February 17). Raise that wage. The New York Times. Mather, A., & Strain, M. (2012, July 18). Are minimum wages fair? American Enterprise Institute. Nelson, T., Oxley, Z., & Clawson, R. (1997). Toward a psychology of framing effects. Political Behavior, 19(3). Ponnuru, R. (2014, February 18). Raising the minimum wage is still a big mistake. The Morning Call. Quinnipiac. (2014, January 8). Quinnipiac University. Wage and Hour Division. (2009). History of federal minimum wage rates under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938 - 2009. United States Department of Labor. Weissmann, J. (2013, December 16). Should we raise the minimum wage? The Atlantic.

Minimum Wage AnswersBefore and After Liberal Excerpt

During President Barack Obama’s 2014 State of the Union Address, he claimed that he would issue an Executive Order to increase the national minimum wage for federally funded employees. This increase would raise the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 per hour. Given this recent push to raise the federal minimum wage, the effects of mass media on public opinion toward this issue is increasingly relevant. Has framing by news outlets influenced public opinion on increasing minimum wage? To answer this question, the two surveys conducted contained three parts each, including basic demographic questions to gauge the personal background and political leanings of each participant, excerpts from framed articles about the proposed increase in minimum wage, and last, questions designed to allow research to be conducted on the responses of the participants to the issue after exposure to the media frames. Participants are introduced to the issue through a different political frame, either in support of or in opposition to the political policy issues regarding the proposed increase in minimum wage. This research demonstrates that the politically framed topic of minimum wage influences the opinion of the participants, supporting the claim that mass media can influence public opinion through the presentation of frames to news audiences.

Effect of Framing on Public Opinion of Minimum Wage by the Mass MediaCassidy Lindsay, Tiffany Edwards, Albert J. Knabe, & Soniqua Adaway

Department of History and Government

Abstract

Context

Data Analysis Findings

Literature Review

References

Methodology

Raise the Minimum Wage

The Raise will Help the Economy

Raise is a Good Idea Current Wage is NOT a Sufficient Liv-

ing Wage

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

79

64

71

85

70

50

60 60

87

67

67

87

25 25 25

50

86

29

71

71

Political Ideology(Number of Participants)

Independent (14)

Conservative (10)

Liberal (15)

Other (4)

Prefer Not to Say (7)

Survey Answer

Perc

enta

ge o

f Res

pond

ents

(%)

Minimum Wage AnswersBefore and After Conservative Excerpt

Point of Exposure to Liberal Excerpt

Point of Exposure to Conservative Excerpt

"I have bills to pay and we don't get enough money," said Karina McClain, who makes the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, and works 20 hours a week. Missing out on a day's pay would be hard for McClain, who can barely

pay for diapers and clothes for her five-month old daughter Kamayah.http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/05/news/economy/fast-food-strikes/

Current Employment Status

Employed

Unemployed

Choosing Not to Work or Disabled

Was Never Employed

Prefer Not to Say

Have You Ever Been Paid Minimum Wage?

Yes No Unsure Prefer Not to Say