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Instructional Materials

Browse Instructional Modules

ICPSR provides access to many instructional modules for classroom use. Any of them may be browsed and downloaded. Faculty, students, or staff at ICPSR member schools are free to use these materials in the classroom, to modify them to fit their own pedagogic goals, or to use them as templates to create their own modules.

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3463

Agricultural and Demographic Records for Rural Households in the North, 1860 [Instructional Materials]

Instructor

James W. Oberly
University of Wisconsin, Eau-Claire

Subject

History, sociology, agriculture

Topic

History of agriculture and rural life in the North just prior to the Civil War

Time frame

1860

Abstract

Discussion of data analysis in the context of teaching about the history of agriculture and rural life in the North prior to the Civil War. Demographic, occupational, and economic information for over 21,000 rural households in the northern United States in 1860 are presented in the dataset. The data were obtained from the manuscript agricultural and population schedules of the 1860 United States Census and are provided for all households in a single township from each of the 102 randomly-selected counties in 16 northern states.

  • general goals for student analysis of quantitative datasets
  • specific goals in studying this dataset
  • suggested appropriate courses for use of the dataset
  • tips for using the dataset

Supplemental material

Related secondary source readings

Related Dataset

Agricultural and Demographic Records for Households in the North, 1860 (ICPSR #7420), compiled by Fred Bateman and James D. Foust.

Variables

Farm values, livestock, and crop production figures for the households that owned or operated farms (over half the households sampled), as well as value of real and personal estate, color, sex, age, literacy, school attendance, occupation, place of birth, and parents' nationality of all individuals residing in the sampled townships

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3727

Continuity and Change in American National Elections, 1952-1996 [Instructional Materials]

Instructor

Donald L. Davison
Rollins College

Subject

Political science, elections, voting

Topic

Continuity and change over time in the major determinants of American national elections

Time frame

1952 to 1996

Abstract

Discussion and data exercises in three areas:

  • the influences of party identification on political behavior including the sources of partisan identification, partisan change over time, and partisanship and voting
  • the social characteristics of the American electorate including major social groupings in the American electorate, who really votes, and the social composition of the political parties
  • the influence of social and economic factors on political behavior including who votes, the question of class bias in American politics, and the economic determinants of the vote

Supplemental material

Bibliography of related readings

Related Dataset

American National Election Study Cumulative file (ICPSR #8475)

Variables

Race, gender, religion, education level, other demographic information, economic status indicators, media exposure, political ideology, political behavior, attitudes toward salient public policies, and partisan identification

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3465

Executions in the United States, 1608-1991: The Espy File [Instructional Materials]

Instructor

James W. Oberly
University of Wisconsin, Eau-Claire

Subject

Criminology, sociology, history, capital punishment

Topic

History of capital punishment in the United States

Time frame

1608 to 1991

Abstract

Discussion of data analysis in the context of teaching the history of capital punishment in the US. The dataset furnishes data on executions performed under civil authority in the United States between 1608 and April 24, 1991, and describes each individual executed and the circumstances surrounding the crime for which the person was convicted.

  • general goals for student analysis of quantitative datasets
  • specific goals in studying this dataset
  • suggested appropriate courses for use of the dataset
  • instructional tips for using the dataset

Supplemental material

Related secondary source readings

Related Dataset

Executions in the United States, 1608-1991: the ESPY File (ICPSR #8451), compiled by M. Watt Espy and John Ortiz Smykla

Variables

Age, race, name, sex, and occupation of the offender, place, jurisdiction, date, and method of execution, and the crime for which the offender was executed. Also recorded are data on whether the only evidence for the execution was official records indicating that an individual (executioner or slave owner) was compensated for an execution

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3718

Exploring the Macroeconomy, 1929-1996 [Instructional Materials]

Instructor

James Gerber
San Diego State University

Subject

Economics, macroeconomics punishment

Topic

Macroeconomics and the interplay of economic theory and empirical studies in macroeconomics in macroeconomics

Time frame

1929 to 1996

Abstract

Discussion and data exercises in six areas:

  • a brief overview and history of the field of macroeconomics
  • an exploration of this dataset using descriptive statistics
  • a discussion of how to test hypotheses about data using t-statistics
  • a discussion of the testing of relationships within data using correlation
  • a discussion of the testing of relationships within data using regression
  • a demonstration of simple regression on estimating growth rates

Supplemental material

Glossary of macroeconomic terms

Related Dataset

The data are time series data obtained from the national income and product accounts constructed by the Bureau of Economic Analysis and from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Variables

Gross Domestic Product and its components (investment, consumption, foreign trade, government purchases), price indices, productivity, national income and its components (wages and benefits, proprietor's income, rental income, profits, interest income), the labor force (unemployment rates, wages, racial breakdown data), the money supply (money supply, bank reserves, interest rates), production and stock indices, and federal finances and the budget

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3464

New Orleans Slave Sample, 1804-1862 [Instructional Materials]

Instructor

James W. Oberly
University of Wisconsin, Eau-Claire

Subject

History, US slavery

Topic

Economics of slavery and the lives of the people recorded in the New Orleans slave market

Time frame

1804-1862

Abstract

Discussion of data analysis in the context of teaching the economics of slavery and the lives of the people recorded in the New Orleans slave market. The information presented for each transaction was obtained from the notarized bills of sale in the New Orleans Notarial Archival Office. These bills often contained information on several persons who were sold in a group or as a "lot." Whenever feasible, sale and personal characteristics of individuals appearing in such groups were entered on separate records. This was usually done when separate sale prices were recorded for each member of the group. When separate prices were not recorded for children sold in a group, information describing those children was attached to the record of a principal slave with whom they were associated on the original bill of sales.

  • general goals for student analysis of quantitative datasets
  • specific goals in studying this dataset
  • suggested appropriate courses for use of the dataset
  • tips for using the dataset

Supplemental material

Related secondary source readings

Related Dataset

New Orleans Slave Sale Sample, 1804-1862 (ICPSR #7423), compiled by Robert W. Fogel and Stanley L. Engerman

Variables

For each sale, information was recorded on the date of the sale, the number of slaves on the invoice, the geographical origin of the buyer and seller, the sale price, and characteristics of the slaves sold (age, sex, family relationship, and occupation)

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3356

SETUPS: Voting Behavior: The 2000 Election

Instructor

Charles Prysby, University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Carmine Scavo, East Carolina University

Subject

Political science, elections

Topic

Elections, voting behavior, and survey data through the analysis of the 2000 United States general election

Time frame

2000

Abstract

Discussion and data exercises in six areas:

  • background to the 2000 Presidential election including nominations, the campaign, and the outcome
  • analyzing voting behavior including the sources of individual voting behavior and electoral dynamics
  • survey research methods including the SETUPS dataset, survey sampling plans, and sources of errors in surveys
  • principles of data analysis including the relationships between variables, useful statistics, statistical packages, and recoding variables
  • six exercises:
    • obtaining a simple two-variable contingency table and examining the relationship between the variables
    • reading simple contingency tables
    • using multivariate analysis through the introduction of a control variable in order to understand a two-variable relationship
    • testing possible explanations of a two-variable relationship by using multivariate analysis
    • using multivariate analysis to understand a two-variable relationship
    • using multivariate analysis and variable relationships
  • user information on the codebook and interval-level variables

Supplemental material

Bibliography of suggested readings

Related Dataset

American National Election Study, 2000: Pre- and Post-Election Survey (ICPSR #3131), conducted by Nancy Burns, Donald R. Kinder, Steven J. Rosenstone, Virginia Sapiro, and the National Election Studies

Variables

Subset of items was drawn from the full election survey, including questions on voting behavior, political involvement, media involvement, candidate images, presidential approval and government performance, economic conditions, ideology, general spending and taxation, social welfare policy, foreign policy and defense issues, social and other domestic issues, civil rights and equality, and general orientations toward government. A number of social and demographic characteristics such as gender, race, age, marital status, education, occupation, income, religious affiliation, region, and employment status are also included.

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3719

Sociology of Religion: Exercises Using General Social Surveys, 2000-2002 [Instructional Materials]

Instructor

Edward E. Nelson
California State University, Fresno

Subject

Sociology, religion

Topic

Religion and social issues in the United States at the turn of the 21st century

Time frame

2000-2002

Abstract

Discussion and data exercises in three areas:

  • the creation and validation of a measure of religiosity and an exploration of its relationship to other social variables
  • an exploration of the relationship between religiosity and other social variables using cross-tabulation (focusing on two- and three-variable relationships) and an exploration of the concepts of explanation, spuriousness, and replication
  • the creation of a measure of religious fundamentalism and an exploration of the relationship between this measure and various forms of religious behavior and opinions on social issues

The data contain information on the attitudes of a national probability sample of adults 18 years of age and older on a range of social and political issues

Supplemental material

Bibliography of related readings

Related Dataset

General Social Surveys, 1972-2002: [CUMULATIVE FILE] (ICPSR #3728), compiled by James A. Davis, Tom W. Smith, and Peter V. Marsden

Variables

Responses to questions on family and gender roles, abortion, sex and sexual materials, personal morals and social mores, social control, general political attitudes, and socioeconomic status. For this instructional subset, some variables were recoded and some new variables were created to facilitate analysis.

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3466

Union Army Recruits in Black Regiments in the United States, 1862-1865 [Instructional Materials]

Instructor

James W. Oberly
University of Wisconsin, Eau-Claire

Subject

History, US Civil War

Topic

Demographic, military, and medical history of African-American men who volunteered for service in the Union Army during the American Civil War

Time frame

1862-1865

Abstract

Discussion of data analysis in the context of teaching the demographic, military, and medical history of African-American men (free Blacks and ex-slaves) who volunteered for service in the Union Army between 1862 and the end of the American Civil War.

  • general goals for student analysis of quantitative datasets
  • specific goals in studying this dataset
  • suggested appropriate courses for use of the dataset
  • tips for using the dataset

The data contain information on the attitudes of a national probability sample of adults 18 years of age and older on a range of social and political issues

Supplemental material

Related secondary source readings

Related Dataset

Union Army Recruits in Black Regiments in the United States, 1862-1865 (ICPSR #9426), compiled by Jacob Metzer and Robert A. Margo

Variables

Personal characteristics (such as skin, eye, and hair color, height, age, birthplace, and occupation before enlistment), as well as data on US Army-related variables (such as regiment and company number, rank, enlistment date and place, changes in rank, and date and cause of end of service)

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