1.  Go to the Statistical Abstract of the United States (in any library or online in pdf format) and find data for two crime rates - usually reported crimes per 100,000 population - for each year from 1987 to 1997.  Do not use "violent crime" or "murder" since these were used for the example.

2.  Enter these statistics in an Excel spreadsheet in columns D and E, with the variable names in row one.  Enter the years in Column A.

3.  Enter a formula into Excel to convert the crime rates to an index where 1987=100.  This will be explained in class, or you can follow the example in the sample Crime Trends Chart.  The indexes should be in Columns B and C

4.  Plot a Time Series Chart with the two variables, following the instructions covered in the Methods course, and the Excel online instructions.  Use the Chart Wizard to make an xy (scatter) chart.

5.  Place your chart under the numbers and enlarge it so that the trends can be clearly seen.

6.  Using the Analysis Tool Pack on the Tools Menu (which you may need to install from your cd-rom), compute the correlation coefficient between your variables.  Print the results underneath your graph.

7.  Write a few sentences describing what your chart shows.

A sample of this assignment is available online in Excel format.  It cannot be opened in Netscape or Internet Explorer, it must be opened in Excel.