Study Questions

The American Community Survey (ACS) provides an annual profile of population and housing trends in the United States. Topics covered in this report include, but are not limited to, the following: population demographics, households and families, nativity and language, geographic mobility, education, disability, poverty and participation in government programs, and housing characteristics.

  1. The report notes that, “In 2018 United States had a total population of 327.1 million--166.0 million (51 percent) females and 161.1 million (49 percent) males.” What is the unit of analysis here?
  2. From the statement in Question #1, male and female are two classes or values of what variable?
  3. From Question #1, if the total U.S. population was 327.1 million in 2018, then the variable of interest here is population size. What is the level of measurement for this variable?
  4. Is U.S. population a continuous or discrete variable?
  5. Is the age of survey participants a continuous or discrete variable?
  6. The report goes to say that, “Twenty-five percent of the population was under 18 years and 16 percent was 65 years and older.” How is the age distribution of the U.S. population being measured here? In other words, what is the level of measurement based on the statistics provided in this statement?
  7. Suppose that a researcher advanced the hypothesis that national-level poverty rates vary by age. What is the dependent variable here? What is the independent variable?
  8. After advancing her hypothesis in Question #7, the researcher came across the following statement in the ACS report: “In 2018, 13.1 percent of people were in poverty. 17.7 percent of related children under 18 were below the poverty level, compared with 9.4 percent of people 65 years old and over.” Does this finding appear to support her hypothesis advanced in Question #7? Why or why not?
  9. After reading the statement in Question #8, the researcher is still not convinced that she has uncovered a causal relationship between age and poverty. As discussed in Chapter 1, what two conditions necessary for establishing causality has she not satisfied?
  10. Suppose that a researcher advanced the hypothesis that national-level poverty rates vary by nativity. What is the dependent variable here? What is the independent variable?
  11. If a researcher wanted to explore which groups of people have a higher participation in government programs, what are two example demographic variables that might be used?
  12. Suppose that a researcher advances the following hypothesis: the national-level poverty rate will begin to decline slowly if there is a preceding increase in the proportion of Americans completing college. Identify the independent and dependent variables.
  13. Suppose that a researcher advanced the hypothesis that national-level poverty rates vary by education. What is the dependent variable here? What is the independent variable?