ISP 120 Out of Class Assignment 1

Absolute and Relative Quantities

Answer the following questions in a word document.

1. Open the article SouthAfricaNYTimes and read the following article that appeared in the New York Times newspaper on November 25, 2001.  It contains a lot of quantitative information relating to the AIDS/HIV crisis in Africa. 

Give 10 examples of quantitative information in the article and identify each as an absolute quantity or a relative quantity.  Aim for 3 examples of absolute and 7 examples of relative. 

2. While the article is very informative, there is one quantitative related error.  There is a statement in the article that contradicts the information we looked at in class in the  file HIV_Adults_By_Country_2001.xls.  Review the file, redo the calculations from class, and find the error in the article.  (Hint: the error is in the last part of the article)

3. What is your reaction to the article?  Did you learn something?  Did the quantitative information help you understand the situation in South Africa better? 

4. This article was written over 3 years ago.  Investigate the current situation for yourself.  Find at least one article on the internet that has more current quantitative information on HIV/AIDS in South Africa.  Either print out the article and attach it to your word document or include the URL or link to the article.  Compare the information.  Has the HIV/AIDS situation in South Africa changed?  Has it gotten better or worse?  Give specific examples from the article.