LSP 120 [Callahan]

Homework assignment 3

1.     Women in the United States continue to be paid less than men overall.   Nationally, in 2007, the median weekly earnings of female full-time wage and salary workers totaled $614, while it was $766 for males. (Data is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics report  http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswom2007.pdf )

a. Using the data above ($614 for females and $766 for males), make a column graph that purposely exaggerates the difference between men and women.  Paste it into your Word document.

b. Using the data above ($614 for females and $766 for males), make a bar chart that purposely makes the difference between men and women seem small.  Paste it into your Word document.

c. In the spirit of the story of Goldilocks, make a graph of the data that you feel gives the most accurate, non-biased view of the difference between male an female wages.

2.     In the Bureau of Labor Standard's report http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswom2007.pdf, the authors include the following complex chart.

In a 5-7 sentence paragraph, carefully describe the graph.  What do you want you audience to know about the data you graphed?  Address the following questions in your paragraph:

• Change in men's earnings over time.
• Change women's earnings over time.
• The relationship between between men and women's actual earnings over time.
• The relationship between women's earnings as a percent of men's earnings over time.

3.    Critique the following graph: