MAT 300: Descriptive Statistics Assignment

MAT 300: Descriptive Statistics Assignment

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Introduction

The article “Suicide rate up 33% in less than 20 years” by Anne Godlasky and Alia E. Dastagir was published in USA Today. It illustrates the increase of suicide among Americans despite the high campaigns and funding. It illustrates that since 1999, the suicide rate in the United States has increased by 33%, which is a worrying trend. It also suggests that more than twice Americans are likely to take their own lives. And the risk factors, which have contributed to increasing suicide, are alcohol and substance abuse, which is rampant across many states CITATION God18 \l 1033 (Godlasky & Dastagir, 2018). The article also pointed out that increase suicide is also directly linked to teens having smartphones. It is also established that suicide is the third leading cause of death in the United States and therefore, it has been regarded as public emergency health.

A descriptive statistic is a brief descriptive coefficient of a given data, which represent the entire data. It is broken down into tendency, which includes mode, median, and means of a given data of a larger sample CITATION Wil18 \l 1033 (Kenton, 2018). The article is a descriptive statistic because the entire data is presented by a section of the data to reflect the happenings in society. The variables were also compared based on the mean and how they relate to the research question. In the article, the suicide mean or rate was directly directed to alcohol and substance abuse, usage of smartphone among teenagers and economic recession. The comparison was done based on their means to determine how suicide relates to the four factors. In order to determine the relationship between suicide and alcohol abuse, the variance of the subject was used as well. It is, therefore, evident that the article was completed using descriptive statistic.

The article can be used by the government for economic and social development planning. It addresses issues which affect the majority of young Americans. And the fact that suicide has been an issue, it can be useful for economic and social planning. The government can determine how to allocate funds in order to address the problem, which affects people. It can also provide the information needed to address alcohol and substance abuse in the country. The article can be used to give a projection of the population, which is used for economic planning of a country. In my current job, it can be applied in establishing community centers to solve the social-economic problem in society. The company can, therefore, use the report to allocate the resources. Most companies which are involved in campaigns to address the problems related to alcohol abuse and suicide usually utilize data or research to address the related problems. The fact that the research analyses the impact of suicide and the trend in society makes the research more useful to several organizations for current and future application. In the future, it can be utilized to structure how a company operates especially companies which deal with alcohol and related products.

The various types of data were used in the research to obtain accurate research findings. Findings are a critical component of the research for accurate information to be obtained various types of data should be used. It widens the scope of the study by providing information, which can reflect the perception of the majority of people in society. The use of limited data is not encouraged because the scope will be limited and the probability of not representing the general population is high. Therefore, the use of various types of data is encouraged because of the accuracy of the findings it helps to obtain.

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Godlasky, A., & Dastagir, A. E. (2018). Suicide rate up 33% in less than 20 years, yet funding lags behind other top killers. https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/surviving-suicide/2018/11/28/suicide-prevention-suicidal-thoughts-research-funding/971336002/, 2-35.

Kenton, W. (2018). Descriptive Statistics. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/descriptive_statistics.asp, 2-35.