In the present paper, changes in belief system, ways of thinking and emotional attitude of the Japanese over 30 years in post-war Japan are statistically discussed as a branch of statistical study of national character.
The data, which are analyzed in the paper, are based on the continuing nation wide random sample surveys which have been conducted every five years over 30 years since 1953 in Japan by the Research Committee on the Study of Japanese National Character of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics. The importance of the changes in belief systems and ways of thinking is insisted. It is remarked that only. the simple tabulations by various breakdowns and simple cross-tabulations among the 2 or 3 questions do not always reveal the changes of belief systems and ways of thinking. The statistical method or principal component analysis of categorical data, which is called theory of quantification of response pattern (third method of quantification) and equivalent to Benzécri's correspondence analysis, is effectively adopted to reveal them. The consistency and the features of change of them over 30 years in post-war Japan emerge.
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