Descriptive Statistics

Visit one of the following newspapers’ website: USA Today, New York Times, Wall Street Journal or Washington Post.

1. Select an article that uses statistical data related to a current event, your major (criminal justice), your current field (youth rehabilitation counselor), or your future career goal (Juvenile Probation Officer). The chosen goal must have a publication date during this quarter.

2. The article should use one of the following categories of descriptive statistics:

-Measures of Frequency- Counting rules, percent, frequency, frequency distributions

-Measures of Central Tendency- Mean, Median, Mode

-Measures of Dispersion or Variation- Range, Variance, Standard Deviation

-Measures of Position- Percentile, Quartiles

Please remember that your topic is a real world topic/current event that was published in a reputable publication during the current quarter. You can choose any topic that is interesting to you as long as it meets the requirements. Your topic is not a math concept, but a real world news topic that happens to include descriptive statistics. Some examples are the economy, business, politics (upcoming elections), sports, travel, Emmy’s/Oscar’s, immigration, etc.

Write a 2 page paper in which you:

1. Write a summary of the article
2. Explain how the article uses descriptive statistics
3. Explain how the article applies to the real world, your major, your current job, or your future career goal
4. Analyze the reasons why the article chose to use the various types of data shared in the article

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow SWS or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.