Data
Profile Assignment
Due date: Thursday, December 4
What this assignment involves:
- Writing a coherent and interesting analysis on a political science topic
based on sound reasoning from quantitative evidence. Depending on how
much data is in each chart, the paper should include about 10 charts or
tables, there should be at approximately a full paragraph of text for each
chart and table, an introduction, conclusion and a
- Literature review: The paper will incorporate a good review of the
relevant literature. {General newspaper or magazine sources may work
well for the introductory section, but the research
component will require a
good summary of the relevant social science research on your topic}.
- Finding statistical data in published government documents and on the
Internet.
- Constructing Excel datasets from variously-formatted data.
- Using a spreadsheet to construct tables and charts.
- Applying standards for visual display of quantitative data.
- Developing appropriate measures of concepts.
- Assessing bias, reliability and validity in data.
- Appropriate citation of statistical sources.
Possible Topics:
Voter Turnout, Educational Achievement, Crime and\or Punishment, Abortion,
Infant Mortality, Women's Representation, Taxes, Status of Children, National
Defense, Global Warming
Date Resources by topic:
Major Components
Annotated Bibliography
Descriptive Data. The first part of the data profile assignment will
focus on descriptive statistics. This will involve presenting and
interpreting statistical data on your topic based on international comparisons,
US trends, demographic comparisons, and other comparisons.
Research component: For the second half of the data profile assignment, the
paper will address a more specific research question, such as:
What effect do state laws (handgun laws, death penalty) -- or incarceration
rates -- have on state crime rates?
What effect does having a Republican mayor have on city crime rates?
What effect do state parental notification laws have on abortion rates?
What effect do state voter registration laws have on voter turnout?
What effect do class size, school size, education spending and other policies
have on student educational achievement?
What effect does women's representation in state legislatures have on state
policies?
What do stat Medicaid programs have on infant mortality rates?
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