Recent Immigrants, Earlier Immigrants and the Canadian-Born: Personal and Social Trust
Appendix A: Data tables (from Nevitte 2008)
| Options | Canadian-born | Earlier immigrants | Recent immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust completely | 83.8% | 86.3% | 91.5% |
| Trust somewhat | 14.3% | 13.4% | 7.8% |
| Do not trust very much | 1.3% | 0.3% | 0.7% |
| Do not trust at all | 0.6% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| n | 1,768 | 299 | 566 |
Statistically significant at the p<0.01 level using a chi-square test for significance
| Options | Canadian-born | Earlier immigrants | Recent immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust completely | 48.8% | 41.3% | 29.9% |
| Trust somewhat | 48.1% | 52.3% | 63.7% |
| Do not trust very much | 2.3% | 5.7% | 6.2% |
| Do not trust at all | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.2% |
| n | 1,772 | 298 | 565 |
Statistically significant at the p<0.01 level using a chi-square test for significance
| Options | Canadian-born | Earlier immigrants | Recent immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust completely | 23.2% | 16.6% | 10.4% |
| Trust somewhat | 62.0% | 68.9% | 67.5% |
| Do not trust very much | 11.7% | 13.5% | 18.9% |
| Do not trust at all | 3.1% | 1.0% | 3.2% |
| n | 1,760 | 289 | 560 |
Statistically significant at the p<0.01 level using a chi-square test for significance
| Options | Canadian-born | Earlier immigrants | Recent immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust completely | 6.6% | 8.3% | 8.6% |
| Trust somewhat | 78.5% | 79.9% | 75.1% |
| Do not trust very much | 13.0% | 10.4% | 14.9% |
| Do not trust at all | 1.9% | 1.4% | 1.4% |
| n | 1,747 | 288 | 558 |
Not statistically significant using a chi-square test for significance (p=0.285).
| Options | Canadian-born | Earlier immigrants | Recent immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust completely | 2.7% | 3.7% | 3.7% |
| Trust somewhat | 62.9% | 71.1% | 62.4% |
| Do not trust very much | 24.6% | 20.5% | 30.9% |
| Do not trust at all | 9.8% | 4.8% | 3.0% |
| n | 1,679 | 273 | 540 |
Statistically significant at the p<0.01 level using a chi-square test for significance
| Options | Canadian-born | Earlier immigrants | Recent immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust completely | 1.7% | 1.0% | 1.3% |
| Trust somewhat | 51.3% | 45.8% | 32.3% |
| Do not trust very much | 34.4% | 39.6% | 50.0% |
| Do not trust at all | 12.6% | 13.5% | 16.4% |
| n | 1,749 | 288 | 560 |
Statistically significant at the p<0.01 level using a chi-square test for significance
| Options | Canadian-born | Earlier immigrants | Recent immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|
| High (7-9) | 79.8% | 77.6% | 73.5% |
| Medium (4-6) | 19.3% | 22.4% | 26.1% |
| Low (0-3) | 0.9% | 0.0% | 0.4% |
| n | 1,746 | 286 | 559 |
The personal trust index comes from responses to three questions: “Could you tell me for each whether you trust people from this group completely, somewhat, not very much or not at all? Your family, your neighbourhood, and people you know personally.” Responses of “trust completely” were scored as 3 while those of “do not trust at all” were scored at 0. The scores from all three indicators were then added. The resulting range is between 0 and 9. Cronbach’s alpha [Note 10] reliability score is 0.514. The differences between the three groups are statistically significant using a chi-square test for significance (p=0.004).
| Options | Canadian-born | Earlier immigrants | Recent immigrants |
|---|---|---|---|
| High (7-9) | 9.6% | 7.3% | 7.9% |
| Medium (4-6) | 84.6% | 85.8% | 86.8% |
| Low (0-3) | 5.8% | 6.9% | 5.3% |
| n | 1,647 | 260 | 509 |
The social trust index comes from responses to four questions: “Could you tell me for each whether you trust people from this group completely, somewhat, not very much or not at all? Canadian people in general, recent immigrants, Americans and people you meet for the first time. Responses of “trust completely” were scored at 3 while those of “do not trust at all” were scored at 0. The scores from all six indicators were then added. The resulting range is between 0 and 12. Cronbach’s alpha [Note 11] reliability score is 0.758. The differences between the three groups are not statistically significant using a chi-square test for significance (p=0.260).
Notes
- [Note 10] Cronbach’s alpha measures how well a set of variables measures a single latent construct. While the reliability score for the personal trust index does not reach the conventional 0.70 or higher (level usually considered “acceptable” for a high correlation in the social sciences), the level is nonetheless satisfactory (scales measuring social constructs with scores ranging from the 0.50s to the 0.90s have been described as having "acceptable" internal consistency in published literature).
- [Note 11] The reliability score of the social trust index is above the conventional level for acceptability.