In today’s class, we delved into the age distribution of individuals involved in police shootings, specifically focusing on disparities between Black and White individuals. Our analysis utilized Mathematica, with plans to develop a Python equivalent for future sessions.
Key Findings:
1. Overall Age Distribution:
– Range: 6 to 91 years
– Average: 37.1 years, Median: 35 years
– Standard Deviation: 13 years
– Slight right skewness (0.73) and kurtosis close to 3, indicating a distribution resembling the normal curve.
2. Age Distribution for Black Individuals:
– Range: 13 to 88 years
– Average: 32.7 years, Median: 31 years
– Standard Deviation: 11.4 years
– Right skewness (1) and kurtosis of 3.9, suggesting a slightly more pronounced tail.
3. Age Distribution for White Individuals:
– Range: 6 to 91 years
– Average: 40 years, Median: 38 years
– Standard Deviation: 13.3 years
– Slightly right-skewed (0.53) with kurtosis of 2.86, indicating a distribution with a less pronounced peak and tails.
4. Comparison Between Black and White Individuals:
– Average age difference of approximately 7.3 years, with White individuals being older on average.
– Monte Carlo simulation confirmed statistical significance, implying a low likelihood of this result occurring by chance.
– Cohen’s d effect size of 0.58 indicates a medium magnitude for the observed age difference.
This session provided a thorough exploration of age distributions in the context of police shootings, shedding light on distinct patterns between racial groups and general age tendencies in the dataset.