Module 4b: Module Exercise B

As Todaro and Smith note (pp. 311-18, especially p. 314), there seems to be a high correlation between women’s and girls’ status within the household and household fertility.

In this exercise, you will

• find data for their chosen countries on the country’s demographic situation (hint: fertility is presumably most appropriate here);
• find data on two indicators of women’s and girls’ status;
• arrange these data on one or more graphs using Excel; and
• write a brief narrative on whether you have found a relationship between demography and women’s status. Be sure to watch out for lags, i.e., if women’s status improves in a given year, demographic changes may not occur until several years later.

Data Sources

• population: US Census Bureau International Data Base (链接到外部网站。)

On the left, you will see where you can choose your variables (Country Report Columns), country, and time period.

• women’s and girls’ status: MDG Indicators (UN) (链接到外部网站。)

At the data source, be sure to click on Data at the top and choose your country from the drop-down menu. MDG Goal 3 is Promote Gender Equality and Power Women, with three indicators, namely (1) Equal girls’ enrollment in primary school; (2) Women’s share of paid employment; and (3) Women’s equal representation in national parliaments (see MDG goals (UN) (链接到外部网站。)for a table of goals and progress by region).

If you are unfamiliar or rusty with making graphics from data in Excel, a tutorial is available here Excel Quick and Simple Charts Tutorial (链接到外部网站。). Your product should be a professional looking and no longer than two pages, including graphics.