Your Name:                                                                .

If you are coming to class on the date due, you may bring this assignment to class with you.  You may write clearly by hand, or you may open the file in an editor and type the answers.  If you cannot come to class, type your answers into the file, save it in html format and submit it to the class WEBCT site at least one hour before class begins.  WEBCT will not accept late assignments.

This assignment is a "digital treasure hunt."  You are to fill in the answers to statistical questions by searching for the answers in available sources.  All answers can be found in data sources available on the World Wide Web.

Be sure to get the decimal point in the right place in your answer - many tables have the decimal point adjusted to save space, e.g, the data may be given in thousands.  You should come up with a correct number, not one that is off by three orders of magnitude (decimal points).

1.  How many murders were committed in the United States in 1980?             In 1990?                             In 1997?                         [Clue:  try the "frequently requested tables" on the Statistical Astract Home Page.

2.   What was the murder rate per 100,000 population in the United States in 1980?            In 1990?              In 1997?

3.  What was the murder rate per 100,000 population in New Jersey in 1997?                  What was it in the District of Columbia?                   In Detroit?                [clue:  try the Statistical Abstract of the United States]

4.   How many male juveniles were arrested for arson in New Jersey in 1998?            In 1999?              [Clue:  try the New Jersey State Police site]

5.   How many female juveniles were arrested for arson in New Jersey in 1998?           In 1999?

6.  How many drug law violation arrests were there in the United States in 1980?                 1990?                   1999?                         [clue:  try the BJS - when you click on their graphs, you get the tables].

7.  What percent of Americans answered "yes" to the question "Is there any area right around here--that is, within a mile--where you would be afraid to walk alone at night?"   in 1996?              in 1988-1991?                  in 1972-1982?                                    [clue:  try the General Social Survey site.  Don't be afraid to calculate the percents yourself, using the total answering the questions as the base of your percent, i.e., leaving out the don't know and no answer respondents]

8.   How many respondents in the GSS survey said that crime was not an important issue at all in 1983-1987?

9.  What percent of high school seniors said they had ever used marijuana in the 1998 "Monitoring the Future" survey reported on the "Drug Data Fact Sheet" by the Office of National Drug Control Policy?     How many had ever used crack?  According to the same source, what percent of adults 26 to 34 said they had ever used illicit drugs?

10. According to the National Criminal Victimization Survey, what was the percent change in the personal crime rate from 1998 to 1999?          What was the percent change in the property crime rate?