TABLE 2.6 TRUSTWORTHINESS OF SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE PAST BY GENDER -- NATIONAL SAMPLE

We asked our respondents for the following information about seven "places where people might get information about the past:" "Please tell (us) how trustworthy you think each is as a source of information about the past using a 1 to 10 scale, where 1 means not at all trustworthy and 10 means very trustworthy." The table below divides the National Sample by gender, and reports the mean score each gender gave each of the seven sources of information about the past listed in the far-left column. The numbers in parentheses indicate the number of respondents of each gender who answered the question.

How trustworthy do you think ___ are as a source of information about the past?

GENDER
Total National sample
Men
Women
Significance test

Museums

8.4 (778)
8.1 (360)
8.6 (418)
< .001

Personal Accounts from your grandparents or other relatives

8.0 (789)
7.8 (361)
8.2 (428)
< .001

Conversation with someone who was there

7.8 (790)
7.6 (363)
8.0 (427)
.01

College history professors

7.3 (692)
7.1 (329)
7.5 (363)
.02

High school history teachers

6.6 (771)
6.4 (354)
6.7 (417)
.04

Non-fiction books

6.4 (747)
6.4 (349)
6.4 (398)
NS

Movies or television programs about the past

5.0 (783)
4.7 (362)
5.1 (421)
.01

 

 

 

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