BacioNotzon

AnInquiryintowhetherornotzipcodeaffectsapersons
opinion/knowledgeoftheeventsinFergusonfromasampleof
AustinHighstudents?
Andabriefdiscourseoverthemotivationforthistopic

APStatistics
7thPeriod
12/4/14


RelatedDiscourseIntoMyMotivationforThisSubject

ThedecisionoverwhattopictoutilizefortheStatsinActionprojectisundoubtedlythe
mostdifficultandintensiveaspectofthisassignment.IknewfromthebeginningthatIwanteda
topicthatwasdifferent,andmorecreative/funthanothertopics,howeverwhatthattopicwould
beprovedtobealittlemorechallenging.ThroughoutmylifeIhavebeenexposedtoracein
variousways,frombeingamixracedchild,tohavingmyfatherbeanemployment
discriminationlawyer,andbeingachairmanfortheNAACPTexasBranch.Fromhisprofession,
myfatherisaveryracebasedperson,andsubsequently,believedinhavingmebemoreracially
aware.BasedupontheseeventsIdecidedthatIwoulddotheprojectoverrace.Imadean
elaborateplantodeterminewhetherrace/genderhadanyinfluenceoverwhetherornotaperson
wouldhelparandompersononthestreet.However,aftersomeretrospectivethoughtovermy
topic,andsomeadvicefromMr.Kiker,Idecidedtonotgowiththatexperimentduetothe
numerouspossibleconfoundingvariablesthatcouldoccurduringthisexperiment,andthe
difficultyinchoosingthatmanyparticipantsandsettinguptheexperiment.Soonaftermy
decisiontotrashthisidea,IlearnedabouttherulinginFerguson,overthekillingofMike
Brown,andknewthatIhadtodosomethingoverthisissue.Afteralittlebitofthought,I
decidedIwantedtoseeifpeopleseconomicclass/areaofhousing(asexemplifiedbytheir
zipcode)hadanyinfluenceonthatperson'sopinionoftheruling/eventsinFerguson,orifthey
hadheardabouttheissueatall.Ibelievethatalmostatotalmajoritywouldhaveheardaboutthe
issue,however,Ibelievethatzipcodesthatpertaintomoretraditionallyupperclasswhite
neighborhoods,mayhavehigherlevelsofneutrality/possiblesupportforDarrenWilson.

IknewabouttheeventsinFerguson,andothersimilareventshappeningintheU.S.and
inAustin,andIknewthatracismexistedabundantlyintheindividual,howeveraftertheruling
inFerguson,Iwasshocked.Ashockthatfilledmyjaw,andengulfedmythroat.Ihadnoidea
thatthislevelofinstitutionalracismwasstillsoblatantlyapparentinourculture.Iunderstood
thatpeopleincompaniesandinstitutionswereracist,however,frommypreviousknowledge,all
thecompaniesthatdiscriminatedagainsttheiremployeesdidsocovertly,andwerevery
secretiveaboutit.HoweverthisdecisionfromtheGrandJuryinFergusonblindlyaboutrace.
Thereisnopullingbacklayers,thisissurfacelevelstructuralracism.IhadnoideathattheU.S.
governmentwassooutrightunabashedlyracist,andatthispoliticallevel,andnotevenmaking
anefforttohideit.
Irealizethatpredictingthattheupperclasspredominantly/historicallywhite
neighborhoods(thoselocatedinwestaustin)wouldbemoreinsupportofDarrenWilsonis
stereotypingthem,andevensayingthattheywillbemoreneutralwouldbeinclusiveofthis.
However,lookingbackonthewhitebasedpolitical/socioeconomicalstructurethatamericahas
beenlivingin,manyupperclasswhiteindividuals,simplydonthavetheknowledgeofwhat
lowerincome,minoritygroupsgothroughonaregularbasis.Thoughmanypeoplewouldsay
theyaren'tracist,orbiased,theyonlyknowwhattheyknow,andbecausetheyhaventreally
knowntheotherlivingsituation,theyareunintentionallybiasedintheirlackofknowledgeor
understandingofblack/minorityAmerica.

ImplementationofTheSurvey,andTheIssuesThatArose
InordertokeepthebiasinmysurveytoaminimumIusedarandomdatatabletopick
outthe4classesthatIwoulduseinmysurvey.Iused3digitnumbersfrom100380inclusive,
excludingrepeats,andstoppingafter4classeshadbeenchosen.Almostimmediately,problems
begantocomeabout,initiallyalmostallofthenumbersIwascomingacrosswereabout380,so
Iusedadifferentdatatable.However,whenIbegangoingtotalktoteachers,notallwere
willingtohavemeconductasurveyontheirclass.FinallyIwasabletofind4(random)classes
willingtotakepartinmysurvey,thesewererooms303,169,166,and178.Isubsequentlychose
randomperiodsfortheseclasseschoosingthefirstfour4digitnumbersIcameacrossona
randomdigittable(between18inclusive),havingthefirstperiodvaluecorrespondtothefirst
classnumber.Forexample5thperiodwouldcorrespondtotheclass303becauseitwaschosen
first,and7thperiodwiththeclass169becauseboththosevalueswerechosensecond.
AsfarastheactualsurveyIhandedouttopeople,Imadeaslipofpaper,thatsimply
askedforname,zipcode,opinion/knowledgeoftheeventthathappenedatFerguson,andtheir
signature(asseenintheappendix)toavoidambiguity.However,itspossiblethat,whileI
providedlessinstructionsinordertolessenthebiasIwouldimposeonthesurvey,thislackof
instructionovertheknowledgecouldhaveleadsomeoftheparticipantstoguess,ratherthan
simplyputtingthattheydon'tknowwhatthecaseis,ultimatelyalteringtheresultsofthesurvey.

AnalysisofDataCollected
Aftercollectingthedata,Iputallofthevaluesforzipcodeandcorrespondingopinion
intogooglespreadsheetandbegantomakevarioustables/graphs.InitiallyImadeapiechartof
thedistributionofthetotalopinionsofthesampleofAustinHighstudents,andfoundthatthe
distributionwasaboutonparwithwhatIhadexpected:Amajoritynotjustified,afairportion
neutral,somewhodidnotknowaboutthesubject,andthesmallestportiontobethosewho
thoughtthatDarrenWilsonwasjustified.

Aftercreatingthisgraph,Imadeatwowaytableofallthezipcodes,andthedifferent
differentresponsesthatvariousstudentsansweredonthesurvey,inordertolookatthespecific
distributionsofthevariouszipcodes.AsIexpectedthepredominantlyupperclass,white,west
Austinhadthemostnumberofanswersinthejustifiedandneutralcategories(Austin,Texas).
Thoughthismaybethecase,thezipcodeswiththehighestnumberofjustifiedanswerswere
alsothezipcodesthatthemosttotalparticipantsinthesurvey.However,afterlookingatthe
percentsofpeoplefromeachzipcodethatchosejustified,allthreeofabovementionedzipcodes
cameouttohavethehighestpercentages(zipcodes78749,78703,78735)(seeAppendix)B.In

additiontothis,Therewasatrendofhavingsouth/eastzipcodeshavehigherpercentagesof
dontknowthanotherzipcodes.Thiscouldpossiblybeattributedtolessaccesstoinformation,
howeverotherlurkingvariablescouldalsobepresent.Thesetrendsasshownbythedifferent
tablesshowadependenceofthevariableapersonsopinionoftheFergusoncase,ontheirzip
code.

ContingencyTableofZipcodeVs.OpinionofMikeBrown'sDeath
Zipcode

Justified

Neutral

Notjustified

Dontknow

Total

78749

17

78735

74795

78745

78704

10

78703

13

19

78751

78756

78794

78702

78741

78723

78705

78737

78725

78701

Total

14

45

10

75

Although,thedataIcollected,agreeswithmyhypothesis,thereismostlikelylurking
variablesthatinfluencethedata.Forexample,thenatureofthesamplespace(teenagers)could
havehadaneffectonhowseriouslytheparticipantstookthesurvey,inadditiontothis,Ihaveno
wayofknowingwhattheteacheractuallytoldthestudentswhenhandingoutthesurvey,and
couldhavehadaninfluenceontheiranswers.Despitethesepossiblelurkingvariables,itis
undeniablethatApersonszipcode,andthereforetheirbackground,playsaroleindetermining
theirknowledgeandsubsequentopinionofthekillinginFerguson.IfIweretoredothissurvey,
Iwouldmostlikelyincreasethesamplesize,makeabiggerpointofhavingtheteachersnot
inputanybiasintothesurvey,andtakeintoaccountchildrenthathavedivorcedparents.

WorkCited/AppendixA
Austin,Texas(TX)ZipCodeMapCityData.n.p.,n.d.Web.2012
http://www.citydata.com/zipmaps/AustinTexas.html#

Signaturesofparticipantsinthesurvey:

AppendixB
ZipCodes

%just

%neutral

%notjust

%dontknow

78749

0.176

0.176

0.529

0.118

78735

0.111

0.222

0.556

0.111

74795

78745

0.5

0.5

78704

0.8

0.2

78703

0.105

0.211

0.684

78751

78756

0.5

0.5

78794

78702

0.167

0.667

0.167

78741

0.5

0.5

78723

78705

78737

78725

78701

AppendixC(RawData)
Zipcode

Opinion

78749

neutral

78703

notjust

78749

notjust

78735

notjust

74795

neutral

78745

notjust

78704

dontknow

78749

notjust

78749

notjust

78749

dontknow

78735

neutral

78703

neutral

78703

notjust

78749

just

78703

notjust

78735

neutral

78749

neutral

78704

notjust

78703

notjust

78751

dontknow

78756

neutral

78749

dontknow

78749

neutral

78749

notjust

78749

notjust

78749

just

78794

neutral

78703

notjust

78749

notjust

78704

dontknow

78702

dontknow

78704

notjust

78704

notjust

78703

just

78703

notjust

78704

notjust

78703

notjust

78741

neutral

78703

neutral

78745

dontknow

78735

just

78735

notjust

78703

neutral

78703

neutral

78735

notjust

78723

notjust

78735

dontknow

78705

dontknow

78703

just

78749

notjust

78702

notjust

78702

notjust

78741

dontknow

78749

notjust

78703

notjust

78704

notjust

78704

notjust

78737

notjust

78704

notjust

78702

notjust

78725

notjust

78735

notjust

78749

notjust

78749

just

78702

neutral

78703

notjust

78702

notjust

78735

notjust

78703

notjust

78704

notjust

78701

notjust

78703

notjust

78756

notjust

78703

notjust

78703

notjust