Transcript Unemployed vs Suicide - ancasterdatafarruggia

Is there a correlation?
John Nguyen
UNEMPLOYED VS SUICIDE
Why did I choose this?
 Interesting
 Idea of death
 Wanted simple data
sources
 Idea of stress leading to
suicide
Question
Does the unemployment rate
of Canada affect its suicide
rate? Are they directly
correlated?
The unemployment rate
would represent the
independent variable.
The suicide rate would be the
dependent variable.
Hypothesis
 Correlated because unemployment leads to
stress which leads to suicide.
 Probably strong correlated positive.
Raw Data
Background Information
 Will include only Canada
 Total unemployed in
2007 is 1.5 million people
 Suicides for 2007 about
3700 people
 Trying to find correlation
between the two
Semi-related link
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTDhoAvv
tac
 Man committed suicide because of business
losing out on money.
Bias and Sampling
 Census, not sample
 Very accurate
 Very large age range -> bias
 Retired people and teens -> bias
 Information available
 Variation of age group size
 USA or other developed countries
One-Variable Analysis: Unemployment
Unemployment Rate in Canada during 2007
Unemployed people (thousands)
250
200
150
100
50
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Age Group
Mean – 138.9
Standard Deviation – 57.9
80
One-Variable Analysis: Suicide
Suicide Rate in Canada during 2007
600
Amount of suicides
500
400
300
200
100
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Age Group
Mean – 294.6
Standard Deviation – 109.1
Two-Variable Analysis: Unemployment vs Suicide
Unemployment VS Suicide
600
500
Suicides
400
300
R² = 0.5598
200
100
0
0
50
100
150
Unemployed (thousands)
200
250
Hidden Variables
 Optimists
 Retirement
 Environment
 Age groups
Conclusion
Thus, although there may still be the
possibility that unemployment does
play a role in determining the suicide
rate, the data shows that it is not
relevant enough or too skewed to
have any direct correlation. There are
too many outliers and hidden
variables that may have caused an
effect on this. The data is still
somewhat correlated and that
means, yes, there’s still that idea of
stress and mental breakdowns from
being unemployed will cause suicides
amongst the masses.
Works cited
Suicides and Suicide rate, by sex and by age group.
(2010, July 19). In Stats Canada. Retrieved
November 4, 2010, from
http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/hlth66aeng.htm
Labour force characteristics by age and sex. (2010,
January 19). In Stats Canada. Retrieved
November 4, 2010, from
http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/labor20aeng.htm?sdi=unemployment