University of California Irvine Reading and Utilizing Data Paper

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Being able to access basic, descriptive, quantitative data sources are key components of most social science research, even if you do qualitative work. Luckily, many organizations not only collect this data but make much of it publicly available. This exercise has you work some to see major sources that form a useful basis for your own work by engaging with the information that is presented to better ascertain what is available.

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Lecture Exercise 5: The Realities of Data One of the great things about social science is that we are suffused with various types of data, allowing us to address an indeterminate number of questions. Why do people buy certain clothes? What precipitates a country declaring war on another? How does one’s visual acuity help them to navigate the world? The only thing that really restricts us from doing so form of analysis is literally our imagination. Because of this, there are vast databases that house, well, data. Want to know the experiences of professional ballet dancers? Yeah, there was a survey done in Australia some years back and you can get that data. What about national level information on GDP and expenditures? You can get that for multiple years! One of most common agencies for every day, public opinion polling (aka surveys) is Pew Research Center (http://www.pewresearch.org/). Pew Research is great because they cover a broad array of topics directly. Alongside this is Gallup (http://www.gallup.com/home.aspx) which is a similar type of organization, though they field their own surveys. Other, larger scale surveys (with a broader array of questions, also exist. The largest survey is done every 10 years and that’s the Census (https://www.census.gov/). The American Community Survey (https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/) goes more in-depth on various topics, though it’s a sample of the population. The General Social Survey (http://gss.norc.org/) is a great source of publicly available data (and it’s probable that you may even have looked at some of this data in your statistics course!). For this assignment, I want you to look through a few data resources to get a handle on what’s available, including some basic information that could be very useful for the broad array of information that one could feasibly want. You will need to go to the corresponding website for each section below and gather some basic information that could be used. Begins on next page. Please don’t upload this page, just upload the next page (with you answers entered, of course). Name: Lecture Exercise 5 Part 1: The US Census (https://www.census.gov/) 1. Beginning on the front page, you can find the following two items. What is the current population of the United States? ________ What is the current population of the world? ________ 2. Now click anywhere in that box and it will take you to the Population Clock page. It defaults to the world. Select “United States.” Scroll down a bit until you see a section that says “Most Populous” and lists the 10 most populous states. 3. What was the population of California in 2018? ______ 4. What does “population per square mile” mean? (You may have to use a Google search.) ______ Now, pick one of the following states: Michigan, Ohio, or Georgia. Click the state’s name. Which state did you pick? _________ 5. 6. 7. 8. What is the estimated population for July 1st, 2018? _________ What percent of this state’s residents are foreign born? ______ What is the “[m]ean travel time to work (minutes), workers age 16 years+, 2013-2017”? Now, notice that they have a variety of data points (median gross rent, percent in poverty, age demographics, and so on). Look over the entire list and find one that you wouldn’t have expected to see here. What is it that you see and wouldn’t have even thought about ahead of time? Why did you not think of it? Why do you think they asked a question about this? Part 2: Pew Research (http://www.pewresearch.org/) 9. At the top right you’ll see a search function. Search “Social Media” and the “Social Media Fact Sheet” should be the first result (if it isn’t you may need to scroll a little). Click “Social Media Fact Sheet.” You’ll notice that it defaults to showing graphs but it is very difficult to eyeball an exact number. For the first graph titled “Social Media Use Over Time” change the view to “Data.” On the most recent date (which is at bottom of the list), what is the “% of U.S. adults who use at least one social media site?” _______ 10. Scroll down: what is the most popular social media platform? ______ 11. How would you describe the use of social media that is presented across the various age groups? ______ 12. If you scroll back up, you can see the Topics option. Click that. You’ll see a long list of topics that Pew has surveyed people on. Pick one of those topics and click the link. Notice that they present the entries on that topic in reverse chronological order (they go from most recent to oldest). Look at the most recent entry in that topic and please answer the following: What is the most recent post titled? What date was it posted? What does it tell you about that issue? Does it address what you’d want to know about that issue or is their more information you’d like to know (and, if so, what is it)? 13. Do the same thing as #12 but with a different topic, answering the same series of questions. 14. Finally, looking over the various topics covered by Pew Research, what sorts of things do they research? Is there anything that you’re surprised to see covered? Why or why not? Save and upload as Your name Lecture Exercise 5
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Lecture Exercise 5: The Realities of Data

Name:

Lecture Exercise 5

Part 1: The US Census (https://www.census.gov/)
1. Beginning on the front page, you can find the following two items.
What is the current population of the United States? ___329,595,168_____
what is the current population of the world? ____7,596,702,636____
2. Now click anywhere in that box and it will take you to the Population Clock page. It defaults to
the world. Select “United States.” Scroll down a bit until you see a section that says “Most
Populous” and lists the 10 most populous states.
I.
II.

California
Texas

III.

Florida

IV.

New York

V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.

Pennsylvania
Illinois
Ohio
Georgia
North Carolina
Michigan

3. What was the population of California in 2018? ___39,557,045___
4. What does “population per square mile” mean...


Anonymous
Awesome! Perfect study aid.

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