Suicide is the leading cause of death of Americans incarcerated in correctional facilities. To determine what factors increase the risk of suicide in urban jails, a group of researchers collected data on all 37 suicides that occurred over a 15-year period in the Wayne County Jail in Detroit, Michigan (American Journal of Psychiatry, July 1995). The data on each suicide victim are saved in the SUICIDE file. Selected observations are shown in the table at the top of page 104.

a. Identify the type (quantitative or qualitative) of each variable measured.

b. Are suicides at the jail more likely to be committed by inmates charged with murder/manslaughter or with lesser crimes? Illustrate with a graph.

c. Are suicides at the jail more likely to be committed at night? Illustrate with a graph.

d. What is the mean length of time an inmate is in jail before committing suicide? What is the median? Interpret these two numbers.

e. Is it likely that a future suicide at the jail will occur after 200 days? Explain.

f. Have suicides at the jail declined over the years? Support your answer with a graph.