![\"screen-shot-2016-10-24-at-11-13-52-pm\"](\"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh101f16\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-24-at-11.13.52-PM-300x177.png\")
<\/p>\nWhile I thought many of the data sets were interesting, the one that stuck out to me the most was the set on Death Rates. It provided a look at death by various means such as heart failure, cancer, stroke, suicide, homicide, and more. The points of data are categorized by\u00a0death type and by which of the 50 states the death took place in.<\/p>\n
Though the excel sheet is labeled \u201cDeath Rates\u201d it is unclear how exactly it is measured. It is clearly not a percentage since all the states have numbers over 100. Could it be a certain number of people within a population? Is it the number of overall deaths within a certain timeframe? Is it the number of people within certain regions of the state? Is it the number of people in an age group? More clarification would be significantly helpful.<\/p>\n
While we do not have some of the context, the main extrapolation that can be made from this data is which of these causes of death affects the most people. I thought it would be interesting to see how much cancer plays a role in total deaths. To my surprise, it seems like cancer is, for the most part, pretty evenly distributed throughout the country. Though there are notably fewer cases in Alaska and Utah. What factors here led to fewer cases of cancer? Other things to take into consideration is that though there are fewer cases in these states, they make up a greater portion of the total deaths.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Another comparison that I thought would be interesting is the rates of death by heart failure compared to death by cancer. These are both common ailments, and this visualization helped to show what happens in each state. Cancer surpassed heart disease in Alaska, Colorado, Minnesota, Washington, Oregon, Montana, and Maine. I would like to know what factors, if any, led to the prevalence of cancer in these states. Could it be that there are factors that lead people to develop cancer here, or is it just sheer bad luck?<\/p>\n
![\"screen-shot-2016-10-24-at-11-21-53-pm\"](\"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/dh101f16\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-24-at-11.21.53-PM-300x176.png\")
<\/p>\n
The data set was really interesting and provided a look at various diseases across the fifty states. This data was good for trends, but more context would be greatly beneficial, and allow for a more accurate understanding of what is happening in each state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"