Assignments and Exams

Regional Data Analysis Project

As a part of this course, you must complete a regional analysis of Latin America, one making use of at least two current data sets. You are free to select the topic of this analysis, but the following may serve as an example.

Consider the state/status of women in Latin America. How does women's economic and/or social status vary throughout Latin America today? Where are women doing relatively well by regional standards? Where are women suffering? Evidence might be found in life expectancy and literacy levels relative to those of men.

Other topics you might consider include:

• demographic concerns like population growth rates, doubling time, or total fertility rates

• health issues like access to safe drinking water, access to medical care, or life expectancy

• environmental problems like energy consumption per capita, carbon dioxide emissions, or deforestation rates

• economic patterns like national debt levels, employment in agriculture, or GNP per capita

• social issues like secondary school enrollment or urban population levels

The data needed for this assignment are available from several sources, many of which are available in the Reference Room of Moellering Library. They include, but are not limited to:

• the World Bank's most recent World Development Report

• the United Nations' most current Statistical Yearbook

• the Population Reference Bureau's current World Population Data Sheet

Data is also available on-line from groups like the United Nations, which has a very rich site. Try visiting the links to Databases and to individual agencies like the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The data you are looking for are country-level social, economic, and/or environmental statistics. Using this data, you are to construct at least two choropleth maps showing, by country, the variables you have selected (such as literacy rates and secondary school enrollment). Your first task will be to define appropriate ranges or categories for your data (>90%, 80-90%, 70-80%, and so forth). You should have four or five categories, ideally, with about the same number of countries in each. Select appropriate colors to enhance the spatial patterns evident in your map, assigning a light color/shade to the lowest value and using progressively darker colors/shades for higher values. Your maps must have appropriate titles and legends/keys.

After you have prepared your maps, you should analyze the patterns they contain in a 3-5 page report. In the report you should identify the variables you mapped, describe the geographic patterns evident, and compare and contrast these patterns. How do the variables you mapped relate to each other? In the course of your analysis, you must make use of at least one book and one scholarly journal article. You should list your sources (both for your data and your books and articles) at the end of the report and use parenthetical references for citations within your report.

To complement the systematic format of the lectures, each student will prepare a profile of an individual Latin American country. This assignment will consist of two related parts. One portion will be a 5-7 page paper. The other will be an eight-minute oral presentation of your profile to the class. We will hold these presentations on Fridays in October.

Your profile should address some (but by no means all!) of the following items:

1. A brief introduction to the country, including descriptive information on the country's location, neighbors, population, ethnic makeup, physical geography, etc.
   
   
2. A brief analysis of the country's historical development, including attention to any pre-colonial societies, European colonization, and the process of political independence.
   
   
3. An overview of the country's current economic situation, especially development indicators (GNP/capita, employment by sector, level of debt, health, education, etc.), trade patterns, natural resources, and manufacturing.
   
   
4. A section on migration and urbanization, including rates of urban growth, major directions of population shift, and most important cities.
   
   
5. A description of the environmental conditions in the country, including any major pollution problems, deforestation, etc.
   

Conclude your profile by identifying the country's most apparent problem or crisis and one or two national "assets" that could effect positive change in the future.

In your oral presentation, you should limit your comments to eight minutes, dealing with what you believe are the most important points about your country. You are encouraged to use visual aids. You will be graded both on the clarity of your presentation and its contents.

The written version of your profile should be typed, and it should include a bibliography of not less than two books and one scholarly article. Scholarly journals employ footnotes or parenthetical citations to reference their sources. Within your paper, you may utilize any standard form of referencing or citation as long as you are consistent. Pay careful attention in your paper to grammar and editing.

There will be three examinations in this course, including two fifty-minute exams and a cumulative final. Each exam will consist of three sections--short answer, essay, and mapping. Short answer questions will include such items as definitions, identifications, listings, and brief explanations. Essay questions will usually be comparative rather than merely descriptive, especially on the final. There will always be at least two essays from which to choose on each exam.

Mapping questions will include regional patterns and place locations from both the lectures and the textbook. You will be provided with a base map of Latin America for note taking prior to the tests; you may use one of these maps (and the notes you make on the front of it) on each exam.

Make up exams will only be allowed in cases of extreme emergency and only provided you obtain the approval of the instructor. Missed exams must be made up within one week of the test day or a zero will be assessed for that test.