This assignment focuses on teaching quantitative literacy using information available from the United States census. You will create a minimum of two charts in Excel showing data and write a 2-3 page paper interpreting similarities and differences between two geographic locations.
Note: In APA style, charts are referred to as figures and how they are presented in papers is described in Chapter 5 of the APA manual. We will also review this in class.
What will you learn by doing this assignment?
This assignment will help you:
- Practice how to read and interpret statistical data.
- Exercise critical thinking skills.
- Review United States census data and learn how to use it to obtain information.
How will this assignment relate to your future?
Numerical information is a fact of life. It depicts trends, shows results, and reveals increases and declines. In career jobs, most organizations compile some sort of numerical data used to write reports for management or the board of directors, seek grant funding, or justify program expenditures. Learning how to read and interpret statistical data will prepare you for career positions.
Those of you planning on attending graduate school will have to complete courses in research methods, many of which use quantitative data information, and some of which focus on generating quantitative data for research purposes. Developing skills in reading and interpreting statistical data will also help you be successful in graduate school.
How to complete this assignment:
- Open the United States Census Bureau quick facts website (https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045216).
- Choose any two counties in New Jersey and begin by typing the name of the county in the search box on the upper right-hand side of your screen. A long list of information about that county will appear.
- From the list below, choose 5-6 data points and gather the information for the first county you have chosen.
Median income
Mean income
Educational level
Family size
Number of children
Occupational category of population age 16+ older
Percentage of married people
Percentage of single head of households
Racial-ethnic composition
Age distribution
Unemployment rate
Poverty levels
Industry
Percentage of foreign born residents
Percentage receiving public assistance
- Repeat this process with the second county you have chosen.
- Look critically at the data. Look for similarities and differences between the counties.
- Create charts in Excel to illustrate the data you have collected. Be sure to appropriately label each chart and make the charts meaningful by grouping related concepts (i.e. educational level, income, and employment or family size, number of children, and poverty level).
- Next, based on the data you have captured and put into charts, and after examining the data, develop 2 questions about these two counties.
For example:
Why are the educational levels higher in county X and in county Y?
What has contributed to higher levels of unemployment in county Y compared to county X?
- Finally, write a 2-3 page paper in APA style in which you do the following:
- Describe the 2 counties.
- Using the charts you have created in Excel (and be sure to include them in this paper!), explain what these charts show and what the similarities and differences are.
- Finally, what don’t you know about these counties that you wish you knew? What questions do you still have about these two counties?
Be sure to provide a cover sheet and a reference page in APA style. In APA style, charts are referred to as figures and how they are presented in papers is described in Chapter 5 of the APA manual. We will also review this in class.
