University of Maryland – College Park Descriptive Statistic Data Analysis Plan

University of Maryland – College Park Descriptive Statistic Data Analysis Plan

So let me lead you through. I hope this helps.

  1. Read both the assignment AND look at the template (I’ll attach both here for easy access). It is the template that will give you the structure.
  2. Go to https://www.bls.gov/cex/pumd.htm and read the paragraph about ‘what this is’: “Public-Use Microdata (PUMD)
    The Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) collects data on expenditures, income, and demographics in the United States….”
  3. 2nd Paragraph: “…check the availability of data with the Dictionary for Interview and Diary Surveys (XLSX).” This is where you find your variables. It is called a data dictionary and there are three tabs in the excel file that tell you what the variables are and what they measure.
  4. Refer to the template and create a scenario. Here’s mine (as an example):
    1. Scenario: The research focuses on the impact of expenditures (categorical) on the socioeconomic status of households in the District of Columbia. Data was gathered from 70 households chosen randomly from US Department of Labor’s 2017 Consumer Expenditure Surveys. The socioeconomic and expenditure variables were collected from DC households using a limited interview process. (You need a plan describing what you will like to learn from the dataset available to you, and how you’ll do it)
      Variable Name in the Data Set Description(See the data dictionary for describing the variables.) Type of Variable(Qualitative or Quantitative)
      Variable 1: “Income” Annual household income in USD. Quantitative
      Variable 2: “Expenditures” Annual household expenditures USD Quantitative
      Variable 3: “Housing” Annual household housing costs USD Quantitative
      Variable 4: “Electricity” Annual household electricity costs USD Quantitative
      Variable 5: “Water” Annual household water costs USD Quantitative
      Variable 6: “Reference Person” The first member mentioned by the respondent when asked to “Start with the name of the person or one of the persons who owns or rents the home.” Qualitative
      Variable 7, 8, 9 Education of reference person, income before taxes, etc. Quantitative
  5. Reason(s) for Selecting the Variables and Expected Outcome(s):
    1. Variable 1: “Income” – To show how impact of expenditures on income (where does the money go?)
    2. Variable 2: “Expenditures“ – To show expenditures paid out (look for variables of interest to you)
    3. Variable 3: “ Housing“ – To show housing expenses paid out annually
    4. Variable 4: “Electricity“ – To show electricity expenses paid out annually
    5. Variable 5: “Water“ – To show water expenses paid out annually
  6. and so on… do demographics make a difference? as in location (Washington, DC versus elsewhere), ethnicity, number of children, # of people in household, # of earners in household, etc)
  7. see https://www.bls.gov/cex/csxgloss.htm#chars
  8. or use any of the datasets that interest you. Just be sure to indicate WHERE you got the info. Also, see tables (there are 2 types: Regular and Experimental) Look through the data and consider what questions you might ask
  9. https://www.bls.gov/cex/tables.htm#annual
  10. https://www.bls.gov/cex/csxresearchtables.htm