Final project Overview
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An infant mortality rate is an essential tool that provides crucial information about maternal and infant health and also the general health of a society. According to the Center for Disease and Prevention Control (2017), the infant mortality rate in the USA was about 5.8 deaths per 1000 live births in the year 2017, which is considered quite low. However, the rate varies between different racial and ethnic communities in the U.S. In comparison to the non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic blacks are expected to have a higher infant mortality rate. For instance, in 2016, the infant mortality rate for blacks was 11.4, compared to 4.9 for non-Hispanic whites (CDC, 2017). Hence, it is prudent to assess the trend of infant mortality rate for both races and examine whether the difference is significant. The guiding research question for the study entails-;
Is there a significant difference in infant mortality rates between black and whites from 1915 to 2013?
The research question captures the trend of the infant mortality rate and the comparison of the race at the same time. The data to be used to answer the research will be obtained from a government database, data.gov, which has extensive data samples. To adequately address the question, the data will be graphically presented using the line graph to show the trend if the rate in each rate from 1915 to 2013. The independent sample t-test will be carried out to compare whether the difference in the rate is significant between the two groups. This test was used since we do not know the standard deviation of the population, and we will assume that the variance is equal between the two groups. Also, the test is appropriate since we wish to compare the means of the two independent groups.
Reference
Center for Disease and Prevention Control (2017). Infant Mortality. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/infantmortality.htm#:~:text=In%20addition%20to%20giving%20us,the%20United%20States%2C%202017).