Statistics II: Cases for Study
For all of the following
cases, don’t just “tell me” that there is a difference—prove that the difference you observed is, in fact, a
“significant” difference (at the .05 level).
1. Using
the US Census online (http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en
), or any other source available to you, develop a table listing two
characteristics of the cities in Minnesota
(choose two that might reasonably be expected to have some relation to each
other—population size and poverty, for example). Does it appear that there is a
relationship between them (test this,
don’t just inspect the data and reply “yes” or
“no”)? Is this
relationship stable over time (i.e., what happens if you run the test using
different years)? Is it stable
across place (i.e., what happens if you run the test for different
states)? How might you explain this
relationship, or its absence (i.e., what factors might account for it)? What further information would you need
to test your explanation?
2. Compare
the average per capita income for Minnesota’s
25 largest cities to the average for the nation and for the West North Central
Region (MN, SD, ND, IA, WI). Are people in Minnesota cities better off or worse off
than the nation as a whole? (Again, test
this, don’t just inspect the data.)
Than the region? Does
it make a difference if you distinguish between the Metro and out-State cities? Was the same relation apparent ten
years ago? What would account for
your findings?
3. Consider
the hypotheses that you developed in the unit on research design. Select one or more that can be (1)
measured operationally by using Census or other publicly available data series and
(2) can be tested using correlation or ANOVA. Develop the data and test your
hypothesis. Then test the
robustness of your initial test, by repeating it using data from a different
time or a different place. What
light do the data throw on your hypotheses?
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© 1996 A.J.Filipovitch
Revised 11 March 2005