The data set, the crude birth rate for the United States between 2010 and 2015 explores the trend in the number of annual live births per 1,000 persons. Originally published by World Bank, this data set was downloaded from the FRED Economic data website, which is affiliated with the Federal Reserve Bank of ST. Louis (see appendix 1). The data was released by the World Bank under the world development indicators research project. This research paper examines the crude birthrate data set for the United States in terms of its content, interest, and possible usage.
Source of the Data and Purpose
The World Bank produced this dataset under the world development indicators research. This entity produced this data by examining the number of live births per 1,000 persons in a population across the globe to compare the rate of natural increase or population change. The crude birth rate for the United States dataset is produced annually by the World Bank to track changes in population and its impacts on the economy.
Specifically, this dataset is combined with the crude death rate to determine the performance of the population growth index in the US. The purpose of this dataset is also to guide in the comparative review of population change from one country or region to another and relate these variances to the prevailing economic and social indicators. As a result, the World Bank can follow and make an accurate forecast of potential population growth rates against other significant determent indicators. Moreover, the crude birth rate is also used by the World Bank to study trends in mortality rate and its prevalence across different religions.
How I Can Use the Dataset
This dataset captures the live births in a population. I might use the dataset to research the population growth rate, especially when combined with the crude death rate.
Variable Definition
The units used in the crude birth rate for the United States are births per 1,000 persons in the populations without any seasonal adjustment. This means that the live births are the primary variable in the data set while the number of observations and frequencies are the secondary variables. Specifically, the period of observation was between 2010 and 2015, which amounts to five observable sets (‘Crude Birth Rate for the United States).
The frequency of these observations was fixed to an annual time frame. The crude birth rate variable is a population indicator. The crude birth rate is defined as the summation of live births that occur within a year in the US per 1,000 persons in a population. The estimations were consistently made at midyear for each year of observation.
Dates
The data set extends to more than five decades, that is, from 1960. However, the researcher captured data for a period of six years, from 2010 to 2015 (‘Crude Birth Rate for the United States). The recordings were carried out in the mid of each of the six years observed. There was a single estimated observation per year, consistently recorded at the sixth month.
Format
The data set comes in formats of image (graph), PowerPoint (graph), CSV (data), Excel (data), and PDF (graph). These formats have simplified the data to facilitate a comprehensive review of observable trends. As captured in table 1 and graph 1, the format for this data set is a transformation from raw data to graphic representation.
Table 1: Excel format of the dataset.
| Column1 | Column2 |
| FRED Graph Observations | |
| Federal Reserve Economic Data | |
| Link: | |
| Help:/help-faq | |
| Economic Research Division | |
| Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis | |
| SPDYNCBRTINUSA | Crude Birth Rate for the United States, Births per 1,000 People, Annual, Not Seasonally Adjusted |
| Frequency: Annual | |
| observation date | SPDYNCBRTINUSA |
| 2010-01-01 | 13.0 |
| 2011-01-01 | 12.7 |
| 2012-01-01 | 12.6 |
| 2013-01-01 | 12.4 |
| 2014-01-01 | 12.5 |
| 2015-01-01 | 12.4 |
Geographic Extent
This dataset covers the entire US population spread evenly to cover all the regions. Through strategic sampling, the data capture the actual crude birth rate in all the United States of America territories. This means that the dataset is not limited to a single region in the US.
Definitions/Manual
The dataset has a manual defining the frequency of observations, the definition of the crude birth rate, and the unit of measurement, which are 1,000 persons per population. These indicators are correlated to the number of live births to establish the crude birth rate.
Limitation of the Dataset
The only limitation of this dataset is that births per thousand persons are not seasonally adjusted. This means that the error margin might be significant enough to affect the accuracy of these results presented in a table and a graph.
Accessing Data
Accessing this dataset was free since it was captured from a non-profit website. However, the data was limited to what has already been synthesized.
Rights to Use Data and Authenticity
This dataset is available in the public domain and does not require any special right in usage. Moreover, the dataset is authentic since the World Bank is a reputable organization that has consistently produced similar data for more than four decades. Moreover, the FRED economic data website is run by the reputable Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Bibliography
“Crude Birth Rate for the United States (SPDYNCBRTINUSA).” FRED Economic Data. Web.
Appendix 1: Screenshot of the dataset
“The Eichler Home: Intention And Experience In Postwar Suburbia” By Adams
The article under consideration is entitled “The Eichler Home: Intention and Experience in Postwar Suburbia.” It was written by Annmarie Adams and published in the journal called Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture in 1995. In the article, the author compares the architecture’s vision of Eichler houses’ functioning and the actual use of such a house by the Clarkson family (Adams, 1995). Initially, the Eichler house was designed in a way that a mother could watch her children while staying in the kitchen (Adams, 1995). For this purpose, the home had a large multipurpose room, an atrium, and window walls.
However, in real life, the multipurpose room was divided into two sections representing a separate kitchen and a dining room. Furthermore, the hostess of the house did not watch her children all the time since they sought privacy (Adams, 1995). In this article, the author is trying to make a point that the prescribed use of houses may significantly differ from their actual use. Therefore, to understand individuals’ experiences related to the given form of architecture, it is necessary to explore the exploitation of houses in real life instead of relying on literature.
It was interesting to learn that the Eichler house was intended to satisfy the needs of mothers. However, what surprised me the most is that Friedan considered such a home “a comfortable concentration camp” (as cited in Adams, 1995, p. 164). In my opinion, it is a rough comparison since the author proved that women were not shut up in their houses with high fences; rather, they communicated with other homemakers (Adams, 1995). Moreover, I cannot imagine that a person may feel at home like in a concentration camp.
After reading the article, I was wondering why the designers of Eichler homes did not do some research on the traditional lifestyle and needs of American families. Since they did not do it, their prescriptions misaligned with the actual use of their houses. I also noticed that the modification of Eichler homes made them look more like traditional houses. Therefore, my second question is as follows: do you think that it was a reasonable decision to design homes that differ greatly from a traditional dwelling?
Reference
Adams, A. (1995). The Eichler home: Intention and experience in postwar suburbia. Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture, 5, 164-178.
Individual Vs. Social Needs Priority
Introduction
In modern conditions and the accelerated development of civilization, the role of the individual in society is becoming more significant, in connection with this, the problem of individual freedom and responsibility to society more and more often arises. The first attempt to justify the point of view of explaining the relationship between democracy and the need for its recognition of their organic relationship belongs to Spinoza, who defined liberty as a conscious need. The detailed concept of the dialectical unity of freedom and necessity from idealistic positions was given by Hegel (Miletzki and Broten 44).
The scientific, dialectical-materialistic solution to the problem of freedom and necessity proceeds from the recognition of objective necessity as primary, and the will and consciousness of man as a secondary derivative. In addition, the individual will is mostly free where it can be heard and expressed with positive feedback that manifests itself in a change. However, it should be noted that individuality is vital for having a healthy and functional society due to the fact that groups can be manipulated or controlled. Thus, an individual should have at least equal authority compared to society.
Main body
The first reason is that individuality and personal freedom play a significant role in overall societal satisfaction. This is the difference between the universality of all nature and the universality of that part that has been historically mastered by man. However, Marx and Engels argued differently, because they borrowed from Hegel a formula according to which freedom is a known necessity (Miletzki and Broten 52). This formula made it possible to get along with the doctrine of historical determinism. It was believed that her awareness would lead to an acceleration of historical progress, to a more rapid onset of the communist future.
In addition, individual needs must be placed before social necessities, because the former is a critical determining piece of the latter. Kant could not ignore the freedom of choice in the moral life of people, and he called for help to the so-called practical mind, the competence of which was well-known, in its formulation, moral-categorical imperative (Miletzki and Broten 61). Therefore, an individual’s will must be prioritized in order to preserve a functioning State, because suppressing individualism will increase tension among people and its government.
However, the philosopher did not give a clear answer on how to distinguish between both minds in the mental and objective-practical activity of people. In modern conditions, in the era of the development of democracy, the problem of individual freedom is becoming more global (Barnet et al. 87). It is being resolved at the level of international organizations in the form of laws on the rights and freedoms of the individual, which are now becoming the basis of any policy and are carefully protected. For instance, democracy is prevalent in individualistic countries, whereas a number of Asian and collectivistic nations had cases when freedom of expression was suppressed (Wong and Liu 161). The recent case of Hong Kong protest is an excellent demonstration of the State dismissing an individual’s will.
Conclusion
In conclusion, not all problems of personal freedom have been solved all over the world, since this is one of the most challenging tasks. Nonetheless, an individual will must be treated as a more important aspect of human governance due to its direct impact on society. Personalities in culture are currently billions, and every minute on earth, their interests, rights, and freedoms clash. Such concepts as freedom and responsibility are inseparable since freedom is not permissiveness; for violation of other people’s rights and freedoms, the person is responsible to society according to the law adopted by the community.
Works Cited
Barnet, Sylvan, et al. Current Issues and Enduring Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking and Argument, with Readings. Bedford, 2016.
Miletzki, Janna, and Nick Broten. Development as Freedom. Macat, 2017. Taylor & Francis Group. Web.
Wong, Hio Tong, and Shih-Diing Liu. “Cultural Activism during the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement”. Journal of Creative Communications, vol. 13, no. 2, 2018, 157-165.