An Analysis of the Causes of Death in the United States

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is responsible for collecting data related to public health in the United States. They collect a wide variety of information, from workplace accidents to disease treatment success to cause of death of individuals. In this critical thinking assignment, you will explore data from 2020 related to the cause of death in the United States. You will describe the causes of death recorded for two states of your choice using descriptive statistics. These states will then be compared using descriptive statistics and box-and-whisker plots.

Part 1: Data Analysis
To begin this assignment, you will need to download the data from an Excel Spreadsheet

  • (https://csuglobal.instructure.com/courses/77189/files/4889326?wrap=1)
  • (https://csuglobal.instructure.com/courses/77189/files/4889326/download?download_frd=1) .

1. Choose two states that interest you. Each state is in a tab at the bottom of the Excel file, including a separate tab for New York City and Puerto Rico.
2. Choose two causes of death you would like to compare (located in columns D – Q). You will use the same two causes of death for both states.

  • Explain why you chose the two causes of death.
  • Explain the cause of death in detail, including two cited facts for each cause.
  • This can include but is not limited to information about the disease/cause, demographics most likely to be affected, symptoms, etc.
  • Explain if this data set represents a sample or population and explain your reasoning.

3. Transfer the data from the two columns of interest (from each state) into StatDisk. The easiest way to transfer that data is to copy/paste the four columns of interest. Trying to upload the data into StatDisk would require multiple steps and would be too time-consuming. Make sure to edit the column titles to help you stay organized. Please note that StatDisk does not recognize commas in numbers, so do not include the commas in numbers with more than 3 digits. For example, if a data value is 1,241, then 1241 should be the input in StatDisk.
4. Using StatDisk, find the mean, median, range, and standard deviation for the two causes of death chosen in question 2 (for both states). Make sure to label the results and highlight the values requested.
5. Using StatDisk, create a box-and-whisker plot for each cause of death chosen in question 2. Use the modified box plot option to see if your data has outliers, and if it does, use that option for this assignment. Also, make a conjecture as to why your data has outliers. If your data does not have outliers, use the regular box plot option. You will have a total of four box- and-whisker plots for this question (two for each state).

 

Part 2: Drawing Conclusions From Data
Use the descriptive statistics from question 4 in part 1 to compare the two states chosen.
1. Compare one measure of center and explain what that comparison means in context of the situation.
2. Compare one measure of variation and explain what that comparison means in context of the situation.
3. Compare the two boxplots for each cause of death, and make one conclusion based on the graphs alone. For example, if the two states you choose are Alabama and Alaska, and the two causes of death you choose are Alzheimer’s and Influenza, you will compare the Alzheimer’s boxplots for Alabama and Alaska and then compare the Influenza boxplots for Alabama and Alaska.

 

Part 3: Summary

Write a summary of your data analysis and conclusions, including your personal thoughts on what you found during this research. Did anything surprise you? How important is analyzing medical data? Explain.

 

Part 4: Sources
You should have at least two sources from question 2 in part 1. Cite those sources (and any other sources you used) in APA 7 format. Here is a resource to help you cite your sources: Purdue University. (2021). Reference list: Electronic sources
(https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_
. Purdue Online Writing Lab.
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/referenc

Upload the entire critical thinking assignment in Canvas, using a word-processed document.

References:
National Center for Health Statistics. (n.d.). Weekly Provisional Counts of deaths by state and select causes, 2020-2021. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved November 29, 2021, from https://data.cdc.gov/NCHS/Weekly-Provisional-Counts-of-Deaths-by-State-and-S/muzy-jte6