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Stage One |
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Stage One |
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There will be three stages assigned "stages" that will assist you in completing your final project. To receive a grade for your final project, all three of these stages must be completed and turned in by the assigned due date. If you do not turn in all three stages by the assigned due dates, you will receive a zero for that portion of the project. In addition your final project grade will be lowered by 8% of the total possible points for each missing stage.
Stage one is due August 6th at the beginning of class. This stage counts as an activity. If stage one has not been completed by the beginning of class, you will receive a zero and your final project grade will be lowered by 8% of the total possible points.
You will choose a topic and list of at least four tables from the 2008 Statistical Abstract of the US. (A different set-up can be found at statistical-abstract.html.) This activity is just the first step of your group project and is intended to familiarize you with your data. As the quarter progresses there will be other assignments that will lead you through the rest of the project.
I. Choose a "section" that interests your group (see browse sections on the left side of the screen).
On the front board in the classroom, write in the section that interests your group and your group members (no more than 3 students may work together on this project).
In a Word document, list the section that interests your group.
II. Choose at least four Excel files (tables) that are somewhat related in content.
In you Word document list the files (tables) by name and number.
III. For each table, do the following:
In your Word document, discuss the information contained in each table. What type of date does it contain? Absolute or relative numbers? Rates or percentages? What data appears to be useful and interesting? Any concerns? Which data would you like to share with your audience? Use the title, column and row headings as a guide.
Example: Here are two examples of what your activity should look like. You should complete this question for all of your tables.
Table 97 - Abortions by Selected Characteristics: 1990 to 2003
This table breaks down abortions by age, race, marital status, prior number of live births, prior number of abortions, and gestational age. The table looks at all of these categories in both absolute numbers and percentages for 1990, 2000, and 2001. I don't think we will make use of the abortion ratio columns. I do think it would be interesting to look at the number of abortions and how they have declined over time (maybe a trendline graph).
Table 264 - High School Dropouts by Race and Hispanic Origin: 1975 to 2005
This table looks at status dropouts and event dropouts for race and gender from 1975 to 2003. The numbers are in percentages and we will need to understand the difference between status and event dropouts. (We will have to review the footnotes before we use the data.) It would be interesting to look at the dropout percentages by race. (It I use a bar chart I need to make sure that the years are evenly spaced.)
IV. Looking Forward...
List at least five questions you hope to answer in your paper using the above data.
V. Choose a topic for your final project based on the above information.
Write your final project topic (title) in your Word document.
VI. Local Connection (Extra Credit)
Suggest two ways (or write two questions) that you can tie in a local connection.
Notes:
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