Statistics
Researchers and policy makers are interested in identifying the factors that influence violent crime in U.S. states and whether or not these are the same across different parts of the country. Two factors are being discussed: poverty and whether the death penalty is legal. Therefore, you have been asked to conduct a study to answer the following research questions:
Does poverty influence violent crime rate among US states?
Does having the death penalty influence violent crime among US states?
Are there specific areas of the county where the death penalty is more common?
Does the region of the country influence violent crime?
Does region of the country influence the poverty line among US states?
To answer these questions, the concepts have been conceptualized/operationalized as:
• Violent crime = the violent crime rate per (100,000) residents in 2011
o The data came from the UCR and includes all violent crimes reported to the police
• Death penalty legalization = whether or not a state has the death penalty
o This information was pulled from BJS
o Coded 0 = no, 1 = yes
• Poverty = the percent of the population in each state that lived below the poverty line in 2011
o This information came from the U.S. Census Bureau
• Part of the County = region of the country as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau
o Four regions coded as:
1 = North
2 = Midwest
3 = West
4 = South
Please use the data file provided below to answer the research questions. You must conduct the appropriate univariate and bivariate analysis and then answer the multiple choice questions. For each question, you will also be required to upload a Word document summarizing your results in a graph or table (pay attention to the question). The last section of this assignment requires you to provide a short summary of your findings.
1. Please choose the statement that best describes your sample:
2. Please choose the statement that best describes the unit of analysis:
3. The percent of the population that lives below the poverty line is a ____ variable; whether a state has the death penalty is a _____ variable; the violent crime rate (per 100,000) is a _____ variable; the region of the country is a ____ variable.
R1: Does the percent of the population living below the poverty line influence the violent crime rate among US states?
4. The independent variable is _____; the dependent variable is _____.
5. The appropriate univariate statistics that I will use to describe my independent variable are ____. The appropriate univariate statistics that I will use to analyze my dependent variable are ____.
6. The appropriate bivariate analytic technique to examine the association among the percent living below the poverty line and the violent crime rate (per 100,000) is:
7. Please select the statement that best describes the results of the univariate analysis of the independent variable:
8. Please select the statement that best describes the results of the univariate analysis of the dependent variable:
9. Please select the statement that best describes the results of the bivariate analysis:
10. Create the appropriate graph that summarizes the results of your bivariate analysis. Then, upload the file here (must be in Microsoft Word).
R2: Does having the death penalty influence the violent crime rate (per 100,000) among U.S. states?
11. The independent variable is _____; the dependent variable is _____.
12. The appropriate univariate statistics that I will use to describe my independent variable are ____. The appropriate univariate statistics that I will use to analyze my dependent variable are ____.
13. The appropriate bivariate analytic technique to examine the association among the legalization of the death penalty and the violent crime rate (per 100,000) is:
14. Please select the statement that best describes the results of the univariate analysis of the independent variable:
15. Please select the statement that best describes the results of the univariate analysis of the dependent variable:
16. Please select the statement that best describes the results of the bivariate analysis:
17. Create a table that summarizes your bivariate analysis. Then, upload the file here (must be in Microsoft Word).
R3: Are there specific regions of the county where the death penalty is more common?
18. The independent variable is _____; the dependent variable is _____.
19. The appropriate univariate statistics that I will use to describe my independent variable are ____. The appropriate univariate statistics that I will use to analyze my dependent variable are ____.
20. The appropriate bivariate analytic technique to examine the association among the region of the country and the legalization of the death penalty is:
21. Please select the statement that best describes the results of the univariate analysis of the independent variable:
22. Please select the statement that best describes the results of the univariate analysis of the dependent variable:
23. Please select the statement that best describes the results of the bivariate analysis:
24. Create a table that summarizes your bivariate analysis. Then, upload the file here (must be in Microsoft Word).
R4: Does the region of the country influence the violent crime rate (per 100,000)?
25. The independent variable is _____; the dependent variable is _____.
26. The appropriate bivariate analytic technique to examine the association among the violent crime rate and region of the country is:
27. Please select the statement that best describes the results of the bivariate analysis:
28. Please create a graph or chart that summarizes your results. Then, upload the file here (must be in Microsoft Word).
R5: Does region of the country influence the percent of residents that live below the poverty line?
29. The independent variable is _____; the dependent variable is _____.
30. The appropriate bivariate analytic technique to examine the association among region of the country and the percent of the population living below the poverty line is:
31. Please select the statement that best describes the results of the bivariate analysis:
32. Create a table that summarizes the results of the bivariate analysis. Then, upload the file here (must be in Microsoft Word).
33. Which statement describes the limitations of this study?
Essay(5 pts): Please summarize your results below. Make sure to answer the research questions. Did you find a relationship between the violent crime rate and the poverty rate? The violent crime rate and the legalization of the death penalty? Was the direction of association among region of the country and the violent crime rate similar to the variation in the poverty rate and the death penalty across region of the country? What do your results tell you about how these factors influence the violent crime rate?