Project 1 How Much Crime?

Assignment Description
You are graduating college and faced with the fortunate situation of 3 different job
offers in 3 different states! One of the things to consider when moving to an area is the
crime rates for this specific area. Using some of the helpful skills you are gaining in
Math 102, you are going to do some research into various crime rates for the potential
states using a tool from the FBI called the Uniform Crime Reporting Statistical
Database (UCR), located at
http://www.ucrdatatool.gov/Search/Crime/State/StateCrime.cfm

Materials Needed:

The Uniform Crime Reporting Statistical Database, located online at:

http://www.ucrdatatool.gov/Search/Crime/State/StateCrime.cfm
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Word

Graphs and Charts Please attempt to create these graphs/charts using Excel. If you
cannot get this to work, include in the report your attempt, but you may create your
graded version using pencil and paper.

Learning objectives:
By the end of this project, students will be able to:
1. Locate and report crime rates for the United States from the Uniform Crime
Reporting (UCR) Statistics database, based on:
a. State
b. Specific Year
c. Range of Years
d. Type of crime: violent or property
2. Make comparisons of crime rates between:
a. States
b. Type of crime
c. Years
3. Calculate the following statistical measures using data collected from UCR:
a. Mean
b. Median

c. Mode
d. Minimum
e. Maximum
f. Range
g. Lower Quartile
h. Upper Quartile
i. Standard Deviation
4. Create graphic descriptions of the data collected from UCR:
a. Boxplot
b. Scatter plot
c. Histogram
5. Make conclusions and hypothesis about crime trends for a state/area.

The following class objectives are met through this project:

1. You will locate, critically read, and evaluate information to base conclusions
about given information in order to solve problems. (FS1), (QL1), (QL2),(QL3),
(AS1), (AS2)
2. You will solve for one or more variables from available information using
deductive reasoning skills. (FS3), (QL1),(QL2),(QL3),(QL4),(AS1)
3. You will be able to represent and solve real-world problems employing proper
problem solving strategies.(FS3), (QL1),(QL2),(QL3), (AS1), (AS2)
4. You will critically evaluate a quantitatively-based argument using deductive
reasoning and explain your arguments.(FS10), (QL4), (AS3)