World View and Abortion Beliefs: A Replication of Luker's Implicit Hypothesis*

According to Kristin Luker, at the heart of an individual person's beliefs concerning abortion lies a cherished, taçit, and essentially coherent world view. While Luker used the in-depth interview as a way to explore this otherwise unexamined phenomenon, this study attempts to replicate and analyze her implied theory by using a statistical methodology. By drawing on several variables found in 1990 General Social Survey data, Luker's conception of world view is operationalized in the data through both a linear regression model and a factor analysis model and compared with respondents’views on abortion. Both models are found to support Luker's hypothesis, as a clear association between world view and abortion beliefs is established.