QR Fall 2002

Case 3: Race and Residence in Massachusetts

Lab 1

 

 

A: Taking a look at the data

 

Open the data set “race_residence.sav” in SPSS

 

Start in Data View:

            How many cases (rows) are there? _______________

 

            How many variables (columns) are there? _______________

 

Switch to Variable View and check:

 

            How many variables (rows) are there? _______________

 

What is the unit of analysis? _______________

 

B: Describing the data

 

Analyze ® Frequencies ® Statistics ® Sum

HINT: turn off tables in the frequencies command if you just want summary statistics

 

            pop2000

            #black             pblack

            #white             pwhite

            #other             pother

 

            #hisp               phisp

 

            What was the total population of Massachusetts in 2000?          _______________

 

            How many of this population were classified as white?   _______________

            What percent of this population was classified as white?            _______________

 

            How many of this population were classified as black?   _______________

            What percent of this population was classified as black?            _______________

 

            How many of this population were classified as other?   _______________

            What percent of this population was classified as other? _______________

 

            How many of this population were classified as hispanic?           _______________

            What percent of this population was classified as hispanic?        _______________

 

Analyze ®  Frequencies ® Statistics ® Mean, Median

 

            pblack

            pwhite

            phisp

 

            What was the mean proportion of whites in census tracts in MA in 2000? _____________

            What was the median proportion of whites in census tracts in MA in 2000? ___________

 

            Is the mean above or below the median?

 

 

            What was the mean proportion of blacks in census tracts in MA in 2000? _____________

            What was the median proportion of blacks in census tracts in MA in 2000? ___________

 

            Is the mean above or below the median?

 

 

            What was the mean proportion of hispanics in census tracts in MA in 2000? __________

            What was the median proportion of hispanics in census tracts in MA in 2000? ________

 

            Is the mean above or below the median?

 

In a sentence or two, how would you describe these distributions (Hint: focus on the difference between the mean and the median for each distribution)?   

 

 

 

 

C: Histograms

 

Graphs® Interactive ® Histograms

 

           

            Run some histograms to further explore the shapes of these distributions. Vary the          intervals/ bin sizes to get the best description of the pattern you can.

 

            pwhite

            pblack

            phisp

 

Attach your histograms to your lab when you hand it in (with a title etc), and on each one, describe the pattern you observe. Why did you choose the number of bins in each histogram?

 

D: Conceptualizing Concentration

 

Since the descriptive analysis above shows that the distributions we want to analyze are highly skewed, in what follows, we look at ways to focus our comparison of different parts of the distribution.

 

Data ® Select (ex. pwhite >= 80 etc.)
Analyze®  Descriptive Statistics ®  Frequencies ® Statistics ® Sum

 

white               black               hisp                 nonwhite

pwhite             pblack             phisp               pnonwhit

 

HINTS

a)      turn off tables in the frequencies command if you just want summary statistics

b)      use totals from sections A and B to calculate the percentages you can

c)      use lab and SPSS to calculate the rest of the sums you need

d)      use the calculator function in accessories to calculate the percentages for homework

 

 

 

counting the population

 

 

 

How much of the population was classified as white in Massachusetts?

 

What percentage of the population was classified as white in Massachusetts?

 

 

 

How much of the population was classified as black in Massachusetts?

 

What percentage of the population was classified as black in Massachusetts?

 

 

 

How much of the population was classified as hispanic in Massachusetts?

 

What percentage of the population was classified as hispanic in Massachusetts?

 

 

 

How much of the population was classified as non-white in Massachusetts?

 

What percentage of the population was classified non-white in Massachusetts?

 

 

 

PEOPLE IN TRACTS

 

Whites

 

How many MA census tracts are 50% white or higher?

 

What number of all whites live in census tracts that are 50% white or higher?

 

What percentage of all census tracts are 50% white or higher? ­­­­­

 

What percentage of all whites live in tracts that are 50% white or higher?

 

 

 

How many MA census tracts are 90% white or higher?

 

What number of all whites live in census tracts that are 90% white or higher?

 

What percentage of all census tracts are 90% white or higher? ­­­­­

 

What percentage of all whites live in tracts that are 90% white or higher?

 

 

Non-whites

 

How many MA census tracts are 50% non-white or higher?

 

What percentage of all census tracts are 50% non-white or higher? ­­­­­

 

What number of all non-whites live in census tracts that are 50%+ non-white?

 

What number of all blacks live in census tracts that are 50%+ non-white?         

 

What number of all hispanics live in census tracts that are 50%+ non-white?

 

 

 

How many MA census tracts are 90% non-white or higher?

 

What percentage of all census tracts are 90% non-white or higher? ­­­­­

 

What number of all non-whites live in census tracts that are 90%+ non-white?

 

What number of all blacks live in census tracts that are 90%+ non-white?         

 

What number of all hispanics live in census tracts that are 90%+ non-white?

 

 

 

Blacks

 

How many MA census tracts are 50% black or higher?

 

What number of all blacks live in census tracts that are 50% black or higher? ­­­­­

 

What percentage of all census tracts are 50% black or higher? ­­­­­

 

What percentage of all blacks live in tracts that are 50% black or higher?

 

 

 

Hispanics

 

How many MA census tracts are 50% hispanic or higher?

 

What number of all hispanics live in census tracts that are 50% hispanic or higher? ­­­­­

 

What percentage of all census tracts are 50% hispanic or higher? ­­­­­

 

What percentage of all hispanics live in tracts that are 50% hispanic or higher?

 

 

 

 

            Briefly compare two racial/ethnic groups and the kinds of census tracts in which the       majority of these groups reside in contemporary Massachusetts. Be sure to cite some of the numbers and percentages you have just calculated to tell your story.

            (A short paragraph please).