5.14: Assignment- Utilizing Secondary Research

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Background: For many sociology students (and sociologists), secondary research can seem like the most “boring” research method; however, as we saw with Emile Durkheim’s early work on suicide using secondary data (death records), we are able to glean a great deal from utilizing existing statistical information.

STEP 1: Look at the bivariate (2 variable) table below. This comes from the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN) and is comprised of data from the American Community Survey (ACS), an annual Census-like survey.

Income	Less Than High School	High School Grads	Some College	College Grads	Total
< 25K	49.6%	33.1%	24.1%	10.1%	23.2%
25-34K	21.6%	21.3%	18.6%	8.2%	15.7%
35-49K	15.8%	21.4%	22.3%	16.5%	19.4%
50-69K	8.1%	14.3%	18.2%	20.4%	17.2%
70-99K	3.2%	6.7%	10.8%	19.4%	12.3%
100K+	1.7%	3.2%	6%	25.4%	12%
Total	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%

STEP 2: Identify the independent variable and the dependent variable that could be tested based on this graph.

STEP 3: Summarize the bivariate table by making at least 3 TRUE statements about the variables using the data (the percentages) provided.

STEP 4: Use your sociological imagination to analyze the data. This should be a minimum of 2-3 sentences.

STEP 5: What policy recommendations would you make based on the data? This should be a minimum of 2-3 sentences.

RUBRIC

Criteria	Rating			Points
Variables	Correctly identifies possible independent and dependent variables based on the data	Only partially identifies correct IV and DV.	Does not correctly identify independent and dependent variables	__/4
Data summary	Writes 3 accurate statements based on the data	Writes 2 statements based on the data	Writes 1 or less statements about the data	__/9
Analysis and recommendations	Analyzes data and makes appropriate policy recommendations	Partially analyzes data and makes appropriate policy recommendations	Does not analyze data or make appropriate policy recommendations	__/7
			Total:	__/20

Assignment: Utilizing Secondary Research . Authored by: Sarah Hoiland for Lumen Learning. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution