The Death Penalty in Japan


Figure 2, which shows the changes in response rate by age group, identifies the same downward trend overall, but with important difference between age groups. Firstly, response rates are consistently higher for the older generation, with age groups over 60 being the highest and the 20-29 age group being the lowest. Te drop in response rates for the age group 20-29 is largest: 73% in the 1967 government survey, falling 26 percentage points to 47% - under half - in the latest 2009 government survey. Secondly, the gap between response rates is also widening between the older and the younger age group. For example, for the 2009 government survey, response rate was 76% for the 60-69 age group compared with 47% for the 20-29 age group.


Figure 2: Response rate by age Response rate (%)


100 90 80 70 60 50 40


92 76 73


20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70 >


47 1967 1975 1980 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009


Note: 1) Data not available for 1956 government survey. 2) Line indicating “60-69” for the 1967, 1975, and 1980 government surveys include those who were 70 and over.


Te declining response rate in face-to-face surveys is not unique to government surveys and may be inevitable to a certain extent. Te real problem with the government survey is not the declining response rates per se, but the lack of any correction to take account of the increasingly disproportionate representation of certain groups. In particular, the aged are over-represented and male and younger respondents are under-represented. Over half (53%) of men in their 20s excluded themselves from the 2009 survey. It is for this reason that results published from the government survey become questionable.


36


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