POLS 207 Chapter 2

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State Differences and Relationships

Correlation

• direction
  • positive: as one feature increases, the other does as well
  • negative: as one feature increases, the other decreases
• strength ($r$ between −1.0 and +1.0)
  • weak: $r$ close to 0; very scattered data points
  • strong: $r$ close to ±1; data points form distinct line

Strong correlation doesn't imply that two items directly affect each other (spurious association), but phenomenon should be inspected further to see how and if they're related.

For purposes of book, $0.3\leq |r|\leq 1.0$ implies a relationship

Wealth Differences among the States

Taxes paid by citizens and businesses provide gov't revenue.

That said, poor state cannot provide as much as rich state

Cost of living not really measured by census

• southern states have lower cost of living
• northern states have higher cost of living

Per-capita income: the total income of all people divided by population (average income per person)

Poverty tends to be more common in southern states

Education

Education = higher future salary

South has lower education (negative correlation with poverty)

Metropolitan or Urban Living

Percentage of population living in metropolitan areas is positively correlated with per capita income: prosperity seems linked to metropolitan areas

However, abortion and murder more common in metropolitan areas (also positively correlated)

State Taxes and Expenditures

Per capita income very strongly positively correlated with per capita taxes: poor states get less tax income, richer states get more tax income.

New York is outlier with higher taxes than per-capita: workers in neighboring states pay New York taxes as well as their own states'.

More tax revenue means that richer states can afford more expenditures (strong positive correlation)

Demographic Differences

Minorities

Non-hispanic whites have higher concentration in northern states

Age Groups

Elderly tend to live in northeastern and central states

Strong negative correlation between elderly and younger children population percentage

Social Problems Faced by the States

More common in metropolitan states

Abortion

More common in metropolitan areas... "modern lifestyles" including sexual promiscuity...

Crime and Prisoners

• Violent crimes: murder, aggravated assault, forcible rape, and robbery
• Property crimes: burglary, larceny theft, and motor vehicle theft

Crime tends to be more comomn in the south

Weak positive correlation between crime rate and incarceration

Traffic Deaths

Rural areas in southwest are most dangerous road ways (lower metropolitan areas?)

Health

States with higher life expectancy tend to have lower infant mortality rates.

Hawaiians and northern states tend to have longer life expectancy.