Stats Unit A: Statistics in the Media What to Find. Find two different news stories or articles that include the use of statistics. To make this assignment more meaningful, start by searching online for topics related to your personal interests. The goal is to find one story that discusses the statistics related to a single variable and a second story that discusses the statistics concerning the relationship between two variables. For your sources, you may use an online resource such as a website or print media such as an article. What to Write. After you have read each story or article, write one or two paragraphs about each. Below is guidance on what you might include in each of your writings. Write paragraphs and not a list of answers for the bullet points. When you write, write your own thoughts down. Do not copy and paste text. In other words, do not plagiarize! What to Submit. When you submit your two written pieces of work, you must include your two sources. These can be website links or attached PDF files. Each story write-up will be worth 50 points. *** If you do not share your sources or if it appears that plagiarism has been committed, you will not receive credit for this assignment. *** For the story in the media about a single variable: Write a well-crafted paragraph or two summarizing how the article describes information about a single variable. As you write, incorporate answers to the following questions: What about this story/article interested you? What is the main purpose of the story? What is the variable? Is the variable categorical or quantitative? Who or what are the cases? What are the specific summary statistics given, such as a proportion or a mean? If available, incorporate answers to the following. Was the data collected from a sample or a population? If a sample, do you think the sampling method introduced any bias? Explain. For the story in the media about a relationship between two variables: Write a well-crafted paragraph or two summarizing how the article describes the relationship between two variables. As you write, incorporate answers to the following questions: What about this story/article interested you? What is the main purpose of the story? What are the two variables? Is each variable categorical or quantitative? Who or what are the cases? What are the specific summary statistics given, such as a correlation or a comparison of proportions or comparison of means? If available, incorporate answers to the following. Is any visual display or graph included in the article? If so, what? If the article describes a relationship between two quantitative variables, does the association appear Is any visual display or graph included in the to be positive or negative? article? If so, what? Do the data come from an observational study or If the data are a sample, to what population an experiment? might we generalize? Does the article imply a causal association? If so, is such a conclusion appropriate? Single Variable The article that I have chosen to answer this question on is about homeless in Texas, specifically if individuals experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2020 are sheltered or unsheltered. I have been regularly volunteering at the Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center for the last year and a half, so this is a topic that I'm passionate about. The variable, which is categorical, is whether or not the homeless person is sheltered, and the cases are the 27,229 who experienced homelessness on a single night in 2020. The numbers given on the Texas Homeless Network page are proportional, showing that only 51% are sheltered and 49% unsheltered. There are a lot of reasons as to why there are so many unsheltered, including a shortage of availability at the homeless shelters. The website uses a visual display listing the amount of people experiencing homeless, going as far as to break it down by age, race, whether or not someone is a veteran, and what housing barrier the homeless community is experiencing. Because the data is including all of the homeless population in Texas, it would be considered a population and not a sample, though there may be some errors. The only issue that may be encountered doing a study such as this one, would be that not every homeless person is accounted for. It's difficult to track people who may be camping on the outskirts, so they may not be included in this example. There are also people couch surfing who may not be included. Overall, feel like it's a pretty accurate representation. https://www.thn.org/2020-annual-report/ Two Variables The next article I have chosen to discuss has to deal with mental health. I personally have struggled with Major Depressive Disorder, PTSD, and a Generalized Anxiety Disorder, so this is a topic I can relate to. Also, as a social work major, I feel like it's important to advocate for marginalized groups such as those experiencing mental illness and homelessness, as well as the LGBTQ community. The variables that I am measuring are whether or not someone has a mental illness and whether or not they are considered Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual. The cases would be all Americans. According to NAMI, 21% off all US adults in 2020 (roughly 52.9 million people) have experienced some form of mental illness and out of the annual prevalence of mental illness by demographic group, 47.4% are considered LGB. These would be considered categorical variables and proportions. It would also be an observational study because nothing was controlled by research. While the article didn't go into detail, there is some association between those who identify as LGB having a higher risk of mental illness. If you scroll further down and read more statistics (I know, it's not part of the 2 variables I listed), it does show that LGBTQ youth are 4x more likely to suicide than straight youth. It also shows that transgender adults are 12x more likely to attempt suicide. There are a lot of factors that could come in to play that aren't listed, such as not getting support from loved ones as well as being accepted by society. There is also the issue of new laws being created that go against those in the LGB community, such as the Don't Say Gay law in Florida. https://www.nami.org/mhstats