1. Go to the computer center
and open Microcase Curriculum Plan 2004-2005. It should be in the
"Statistics" folder on the Windows Desktop. If you prefer, you
may install this software at home. It is available in the
Software and Readings folder in our course WEBCT. Download the
"Installing Microcase" file first for instructions.
2. Open the USTrend.mc4 data set which you can find by
clicking on "archive" then "trend" then "US". (You can also do
this with the TrendSmp.mc4 data set that is in the root directory, but
it does not have as many variables.)
3. Open the "Basic Statistics" and the "Historical
Trends" program. Chose two variables
other than
homicide. One should be the dependent variable you wish to
explain. The other should be an independent variable you
think might help to explain tends in the first variable.
4. Examine the trends in your dependent
variable, and
use your knowledge of history, prompted by the Historical Events at the
bottom of the screen, to explain the trend.
5. Open Microcost Word or another full featured
word processor and type the Title of your report on the top of the
page, centering it. Type your name below it.
6. Type an introductory paragraph explaining
the question you are investigating, e.g, "how can we explain trends in
traffic deaths since the 1920s."
7. Copy the historical trend graph for
your dependent from Microcase
into your Word file.
8. Type another paragraph giving your
analysis of the trends in your dependent variable.
9. Copy the historical trend graph for
your independent variable from Microcase into your Word file.
10. Write a paragraph describing the trends in this
variable and commenting on how they help (or do not help) to understand
the trends in your dependent variable.
11. Save your results in Word
(*.doc) or rich text format (*.rtf). Please use a one word file
name with
no spaces, WEBCT doesn't like spaces. Submit it to the WEBCT
dropbox by the deadline.
For a sample paper, see
Trends
in Homicide Rates by my teaching assistant
Fulano
de Tal.