Module Two : Web Work

In this module's web work, you will be working on a comparison between two New York State counties. You will begin by selecting two counties from the list provided below. You will then generate infant mortality data (from CDC Wonder) for both counties and answer a series of questions. The information and data developed in this assignment will be used in future modules.

1. Choose two counties from the list below.
   Queens county
   Bronx county
   New York (Manhattan) county
   Kings county
   
   
2. Go to CDC Wonder and log in to the system
   
   
3. Run a CDC Wonder query to obtain a summary of infant deaths and infant death rates for each of your two counties in the five years from 1994-1998. Your table should show deaths by year for each of three race categories (B = Black, W = White, and O = Other).

   Here is how you generate the table:

   1. Go to CDC Wonder and log in
   2. Click GET INFO
   3. Go to the Mortality database
   4. In the "AREA, POPULATION, YEARS" section set the State to New York
   5. Select the name of your first county
   6. Select all races (RACE=ALL)
   7. Select all genders (GENDER=ALL)
   8. Set the start age to "under 1 day" (AGE=Under 1 Day)
   9. Set the end age to "28-364 days" (AGE=28-364 days)
   10. Select the years 1994 to 1998 (YEARS=1994 to 1998)
   11. Do not select anything under age-adjustment (section 2)
   12. Do not select anything under cause of death (section 3)
   13. Under section 4, select SUMMARIZED DATA BY= RACE and by = YEAR
   14. Leave display data ordered by same as above (no change)
   15. Under section 5, insert "MACH Assignment 2" under DESCRIPTION
   16. Change CALCULATE RATE PER to 1,000 (not 100,000)
   17. Leave RETURN RESULTS AS HTML
   18. Click SEND and your table will be generated.
       
       
4. The output table should appear within a few seconds. Save it in a location where you can access the saved page as you need it (e.g., on your desktop) and repeat steps 1-18 for the second county you selected.
   
   
5. Look over the output pages.
   • If your data says "Unreliable" that means that there are too few cases to make meaningful statistical statements. If this is the case please select a different county from the list above.
   • The table produced will include several columns of information: Race, Year, Death Count (which is the number of infant deaths), Population (which is the number of births), and the Crude Death Rate (which is the Infant Death Rate or the Number of Deaths per 1000 live births. This rate was calculated by multiplying the number of deaths by 1000, then dividing by the number of births)
   • Answer the questions below and then send your responses as an email attachement to your teacher.
     
     
6. Send your teacher (or TA) an email that answers the following:
   • State your name
   • What counties you analyzed
   • For each county, describe the Black infant mortality rate (the crude death rate for Blacks) from 1994 to 1998.
     • Did the rate go up or down?
     • Did it consistently go up or down several years in a row?
     • Compare the Black infant mortality rate for each county with the other, did one county have a higher rate?
     • Does the trend look the same for both counties?
     • Repeat the same description for the White and Other rates
   • Compare the white rates with the black rates in your two counties
     • How do the rates compare?
     • Are the Black rates and the White rates similar?
     • Write a few sentences describing what your counties are like (Location? Are they rural? Urban? Does there tend to be a high rate of poverty in your counties? Employment?...)