Assignment #1
Pollution in Our Cities
This lesson involves a data file with information about the amount of SO2 detected in US cities.
Data File: Pollution Student.xls
Data File Variables: (below)
- City
- Part of Country
- SO2
- Manufacturing
- Population
- Average Temperature
- Avg. Wind Speed
- Avg. Precipitation increase
- Avg. Precipitation per Day
Note: SO2: Sulfur dioxide) is the chemical compound with the formula S + O2 → SO2, ΔH = −297 kJ/mol Sulfur dioxide is the product of the burning of sulfur or of burning materials that contain sulfur. It is a toxic gas responsible for the smell of burnt matches. It is released (naturally) by volcanic activity and is produced as a by-product of copper extraction and the burning of fossil fuels contaminated with sulfur compounds.
US Regions: I suggest you categorize states by region to help you in your analysis. I suggest you follow one of three:
- Census Bureau-designated regions and divisions
- Standard Federal Regions
- Bureau of Economic Analysis regions
Be sure to tell me your choice of regional classification in your report.
Tasks
- You are to explore the ‘Pollution’ data set for each variable
using descriptive statistics.
- Write a report – APA format. That means you must label tables, charts, and graphs.
- Write a short introduction.
- Example: “This report focuses on the amount of pollution in US cities as measured by… This investigator (you) ran descriptive statistics and found…”
- I included an example writeup. Do not copy this example or I will return your work.
- What did you find? You must tell that ‘story’
using mean, median, mode, SD, etc. In doing so, you must refer to the table
where those results may be found as well as include them in your text.
- Example: “Cities located in the NEastern US had a mean rainfall of x and SD x as compared to Midwest (mean, SD), South (mean, SD), and West (mean, SD). Do NOT use my example.
- You must also include a Chart or other graphical display(s) that substantiates your summary and you must refer to the visual displays as Figures and number them. Remember, the reader knows nothing about this data set. You are responsible for helping that person understand and for showing them the related information.
- Complete this exercise for ALL of the variables in the data set and summarize all outcomes.
- Finalize your report with an interpretative summary. What did the data tell you? If you were to analyse the data using inferential statistics, what are the hypotheses you might propose or the relationships you might investigate.
- Why? Using the output from your analysis, explain why you would choose to investigate that information.
- Post your report in LEO. I will send you feedback after your posting and you will have (roughly) 24 hours to remedy any errors for partial credit. I recommend submitting your report earlier rather than at the least minute. The bigger the backlog the more that will impact the 24-hours you have for corrections.
