Limitations of statistical data in understanding diabetes trends

¶ … Statistics have numerical data that reveals information that a person can conclude on a given social phenomenon. The information is usually not sufficient to understand the whole concept behind the research. Hence, additional information is required in order to know the full aim and target results of the study (Babbie, 2010).

What information do we miss when we look only at statistical data?

Statistical data cannot provide the mindset of the researcher. While a person is organizing a research, it is critical to understand the aim and objective of the research. These two aspects drive the research to the end. However, by receiving numerical or statistical data a person cannot know the intentions of the researcher to have a full picture of the study (Babbie, 2010).

Discussion

Diabetes is increasing at a high rate in the United States. According to the graph shown, the number of diagnosed cases has been increasing twice every year. These statistics point out that there is urgent need to inform people on how to give attention to such diseases. It can be concluded that majority of Americans do not know how to develop better health standards to improve their own health status. In addition, people in the 1980s highly depended on non-processed foods, which are more healthier compared to the food types in the market today.

What type of information we can learn from these statistics and what information we miss when we look only at statistical data.

This statistics give the knowledge of the demand for urgent medical attention that people require to overcome the rising cases of diabetes in America.

However, the statistics do not explain the causes of the problem. In addition, the statistics do not mention whether the cases highlighted are all old cases recurring or include new cases. We cannot confirm if the affected individuals are old or young people.

Quantitative Data at the Movies

How the critics' ratings are aggregated into a single score and what this score means.

The metascore is a score that is given to every film in the website. In order to obtain this score, four highly ranked critics are selected and given marks according to the reviews given. These marks obtained are then put to average as a summary of the opinions. The result is referred to as the metascore. The metascore points out the stature and quality of the film.

How quantitative data is used to present a positive or negative review of your film.

Movie title: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

The movie has a metascore of 73 out of 100. There are 436 ratings from different sources. The movie has up to 38 critics, which are only positive and mixed critics. All these ratings represent a positive image of the movie as one of the best action movies. In addition, the remarks put on the web page concerning the movie add on the positive image thus attracting more people to watch the movie (Metacritic, 2012).

Compare this score to other data, such as box office earnings and/or award nominations.

The data put in this order is more concrete as compared to award winning. Apart from the voting and the rating, the website has a space where people add their remarks concerning the movie. On this space, an individual can highlight his or her favorite part of the movies or vice versa unlike in award winning a person cannot know why a certain movie has been voted the most.

Top five movies recommended and why.

1) The Dark Knight Rises: 78

2) Magic Mike: 72

3) Brave: 69

4) The Amazing Spider-Man: 66

5) Ted: 62

These are the best movie recommended because they have the highest metascores. They have high rating with positive remarks.

LAB #4 -- Quantitative Data Analysis

Data compiled

Case number ICPSR 8354: The Evangelical Voter in the United States, 1983.

Principal Investigator(s): Stuart Rothenberg

Interviewees: Self-identified Christian voters

Subject Matter: religious opinions, behavior, and voting behavior during presidential election in 1984

Church attendance and watching religious programs in television

Additional data collected sex, occupation, race, educational level, political affiliation, and income.

Time Period: • July 15, 1983 - July 19, 1983

Data Source: Telephone Interviews

Number of participants: 1000 participants (ICPSR, 2011).

List of Variables:

Question number

Number of respondents percentage

Q1

Religious preference

Protestant

67%

Catholic

23%

Other Religion

10%

Hindu, Moslem, Buddist

0

0%

Jewish

0

0%

No Religion

0

0%

Q2

Born again Christian or not Yes

58%

No

41%

Don't Know

12

1%

Q3

Did you vote in 1980

Yes/Carter

33%

Yes/Reagan

44%

Didn't Vote/DK

18%

Refused

57

6%

Q4

What aspect to Change in the Government (Top 10 Issues)

Help Unemployed

74

7%

Taxation

60

6%

Prayer In School

97

10%

Abortion

63

6%

Moral/Social

36

4%

Honesty/Integrity

25

2%

Education/Schools

29

3%

Reform Welfare

27

3%

Economy

33

3%

Cut Govt spending

18

2%

Q5

Should abortion be legalized?

Agree/Strongly

24%

Agree

35

4%

Unsure

45

4%

Disagree

18%

Disagree/Strongly

50%

What can you infer from the statistical results you have compiled?

The data obtained from the study give a strong political, social, and religious view of the people of the United States in 1980. This data is primary while understanding the political and social trends at that time. It is critical information that can be used to establish future happenings in the future of America. For instance, the question on abortion may be closely related to religious preference (ICPSR, 2011).