All group activities must include the names and signatures at the top of the document of all members who worked on the activity.

Please do the following at the beginning of every computer activity.

a. Open a new Word document. 

b. Click on the "File" on the top menu bar, then go to "Save As".   Give your document a somewhat descriptive name (e.g. "Group Activity 1"). Also save the document to the desktop by setting the "Save in" textbox to "Desktop". (Saving to the desktop makes it easy to retrieve your work when you are finished.)

Activity

In this activity we will examine some data related to poverty in the US. Each year, the federal government sets a household income level threshold, below which a household qualifies for income assistance.  This threshold is called the poverty level or poverty line. In 2000, the poverty level for a family of four was approximately $17,603. 

a.  Before proceeding to look at the data, discuss among your group your speculations regarding: 1) approximately what percentage of the population as a whole is below the poverty line and 2) which states have the highest percentage of persons below the poverty level and which states have the least. In your Word document, write a paragraph responding to these two questions along with a brief explanation of your reasoning.  We will be answering these two questions with official Census Bureau data later in this activity.

b. Open the file StatePoverty.xls, which contains Census Bureau estimates for the number of persons below the poverty level in 2000.  Sort the data to determine which states have the most people below the poverty line.  There are two ways to sort.  The easiest way, which only works correctly if your data is contiguous, that is, not separated by blank columns or rows, is as follows: First click in the top cell of the column by which you want to sort.  Then click either or to sort ascending or descending as the case may be.  A second method of sorting that gives more fine-grained control over the process is as follows: Select all the data you would like to sort, excepting header information. Typically this means selecting all the columns you are working with.  Then from the very top menu, choose Data and then Sort.  A window will then give you sort options.

In your Word document, list the two states with the greatest number of people below the poverty line.  Be careful in noting that the data in columns B and C are given in thousands.     Explain why we can't necessarily conclude that these two states are the poorest.  That is, think about another way of quantitatively measuring poverty from this data set.

c. Fill column D with the percentage of the population that is below the poverty level in each state. Begin by  typing a descriptive label for column D such as "Percent Below Poverty Level".  Then, discuss with your group members what calculation involving the existing columns of data you should use to get the relative poverty values for each state to appear in column D.   Start by typing an = sign  in cell D10 and continue by typing a formula for the percent poverty. Then fill the rest of  column D with the poverty rates that correspond to each state. To do this, you can double click on the small box in the bottom right hand corner of cell D10. Alternatively, you can left click on this small box, and then, while holding the mouse button down, move the mouse down to the end of the column.  To express your values in percent click on the percentage button in the toolbars near the top of screen. You may increase the number of decimal places in your values by clicking a number of times on the "Increase Decimal" button . To decrease the number of decimal places, click on the "Decrease Decimal" button .)  What does the value of 12% poverty for Illinois mean?  That is, in your Word document indicate what the number 12% in the row for Illinois means.

d. Using Excel's column-sorting tools, determine the three states that had the highest percentage of persons below the poverty level and which three states had the lowest percentages. In your Word document, list the names and percent below the poverty level for these states.

e. Calculate the percentage of all the people in the 50 states who are living below the poverty level and paste the result in your Word document.  (You will need to add an entire column of data to do this.  There are many ways to sum a column in Excel.   One way is to select with the mouse the data you would like to sum and then click the sum button on the toolbar: The result will appear at the bottom of the column.)

f. Comparing the results of  the questions in parts d and e to your group's initial speculations, how well did your group do? Were you surprised at all? Write a short response to this question in your Word document.

g. We will now make a shaded map of the poverty data. The first time you do this, you will need to follow these instructions carefully.  Open the link http://qrc.depaul.edu/maptool.  Choose the appropriate map type by scrolling down to see the different geographic map options.   Select with the mouse the data in column A and paste it into the Geographic Data column.   Similarly, paste the data in column D into the other data column.  This data is numerical and 4 classes is a fine level of shading for this map.  Give the map a descriptive title, something like "Poverty Rates by State, 2000.'"  Make your map and then paste your map into your Word document.  The easiest way to copy and paste your map into your Word document is to right-click on it and choose the "Copy".  Then go back to your Word document and paste as usual.  In case you can't identify a particular state by its name, click on the View Labels option to see the names of the states.

h. Briefly describe the geographic patterns of poverty in the US.  What regions of the US have the highest levels of poverty?  Which have the least?  Are there some outlier states? (An outlier is an unusual data point that goes against the general trend.)

i. Another map one could make of the data is below, which is a map of the data in columns A and C. Study the type and map legend carefully and explain why this map is not nearly as informative (quantitatively speaking) as the map you made.

j.  Suppose the data in Column C was simply the actual number of people in each state living in poverty.  What calculation or formula would you use this time to get the correct poverty rates for each state?  To investigate this, fill column E with the actual number of people in each state living in poverty and then fill column F with the poverty rates for each state.  Make sure that percentages in Column F match the percentages you already have in Column D.