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Data Source Analysis Assignment #5

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Data Source Analysis Assignment #5

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# Source analysis (Individual Assignment)

Delete this introductory material when submitting your assignment
Locate a digital source that is related to you (or your group's) general research aims. I will allow a generous leeway in terms of how much the source relates to your final topic, so even a source that is indirectly related is acceptable for now. Remember, although researches start off with a topic of interest, they nearly always end up changing their questions.

This exercise is designed to (a) get you thinking critically about an digital source and (b) what are the possibilities and problems of using that source to illuminate your possible research interests. If in the process of doing your source analysis you realize that your research interest might need significant reworking, that is okay. I expect everyone’s topics to change over the course of the semester. The aim of this exercise is to teach you to think about how to approach *any* digital source.

Overall, your answers should be *roughly* the equivalent of 2 pages, double-spaced.

See the [README.md](README.md) file for information on how to submit this assignment.
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## Basic Source Information

* Where is your source located (URL? Or traditional media)
* The source is located on the Historical Statistics of the United States database. This was accessed on the USF Libraries website. Its URL for the PDF file is http://hsus.cambridge.org.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/HSUSWeb/indexes/indexTablepdf.do?id=Ba4431-4439
* What kind of source is it? (Diaries, records of objects, data tables, etc...)
* This source is a data table that shows the wage inequality between black and white men in labor from 1940-1980.
* Who, or what organization, is responsible for hosting the source (if online), who gathered the information?
* The Historical Statistics of the United States database is responsible for collecting and editting hosting this information.

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## Authorship

* Is there any information available discussing the process by which the information was gathered, or how the digital project was constructed?
* This source does not specify how the information was constructed, but it does cite the book that they got their data from.
* How transparent is the project about the choices they made in gathering and transforming the data for digitalization? [Click here for an example of a an excellent 'About' page from a database about Anglo-Saxons](http://www.pase.ac.uk/about/index.html)
* At the end of the table, there is a specification for which statistics were left out because it doesn't apply to the average laborer at the time. This included the ones who worked fewer than fifty weeks in the previous year and attended school, worked fewer than twenty-seven weeks the previous year, served in the military, reported labor force as self-employed or working without pay if not in agriculture, earned between a certain amount of wages depending on the year, and lastly, those who earned more than the maximum reported in the census and did not work at least forty weeks in the last year.
* Do the organizations or individuals involved in gathering and publishing your data set have any stated goals or agendas?
* The organization does not state any goals or agendas specifically.
* Do the organizations or individuals involved seem to have any unstated agendas or goals?
* This data obviously shows the racial inequality in wages that men in the black community have to endure.
* If a 3rd party funded the project, who are they? Do they have any particular perspective?
* There does not seem to be a 3rd party funding the project.

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## Data Analysis

* Do the datasets involved reflect the viewpoints of particular groups or institutions, and if so, who?
* The datasets reflect the prejudiced black community of America and the many different forms of inequality they've been going through for so many years now. It puts quantifiable and tangible information that is able to send a strong and vivid message of the racism that exists.
* What kinds of categorizations do you find in the data, and do they seem reasonable?
* The data was split in between the decade, the years of labor market experience, and the black-to-white ratio of wage inequality. They seem reasonable because it averages the thousands or millions of men at this time into a one specific number.
* Do the means of data collection or categorization affect how the data is constructed in any way?
* Because of all the circumstantial consideration when bringing in all the sorts of data, this may not fully represent the black and white community at the time. This may take away the credibility of the data table itself, and make it an unreliable source. But since the data is geared towards a certain class, the general labor market of 1940-1980, it can be seen as credible.
* Does the website contain any tools for visualizing the data? Do they seem like they are making any kind of arguments?
* The website does not contain any tools to help visualize the data. It does not seem like they are making any arguments and only look to provide information.