Chapter 2 Discovery Project

Bachelor's Degrees Conferred by Race/Ethnicity

Review the following graph using data from IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data) collected from Fall 2000 through Fall 2016 and answer the questions below.

Bachelor's Degrees Conferred by Postsecondary Institutions, by Race/ Ethnicity of Student Selected Years: 2000 through 2016
Year White Black Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander American Indian/Alaskan Native
2000 929,102 108,018 75,063 77,909 8,717
2001 927,357 111,307 77,745 78,902 9,049
2002 958,597 116,623 82,966 83,093 9,165
2003 994,616 124,253 89,029 87,964 9,875
2004 1,026,114 131,241 94,644 92,073 10,638
2005 1,049,141 136,122 101,124 97,209 10,307
2006 1,075,561 142,420 107,588 102,376 10,940
2007 1,099,850 146,653 114,936 105,297 11,455
2008 1,122,675 152,457 123,048 109,058 11,509
2009 1,144,628 156,603 129,473 112,581 12,221
2010 1,167,322 164,789 140,426 117,391 12,405
2011 1,182,690 172,731 154,450 121,118 11,935
2012 1,212,417 185,916 169,736 126,177 11,498
2013 1,221,908 191,233 186,677 130,129 11,432
2014 1,218,998 191,437 202,425 131,662 10,784
2015 1,210,071 192,829 218,098 133,916 10,202
2016 1,197,399 194,473 235,014 138,270 9,737

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS), "Degrees and Other Formal Awards Conferred" surveys, 1976-77 and 1980-81; Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), "Completions Survey" (IPEDS-C:90-99); and IPEDS Fall 2000 through Fall 2016, Completions component. (This table was prepared August 2017).

line graph of the data found in the table

A line graph of the data found in the table is titled "Bachelor's Degrees Conferred by Postsecondary Institutions, by Race/Ethnicity of Student, Selected Years: 2000 through 2016". The vertical axis is labeled "Number of Bachelor's Degrees" and ranges from 0 to 1,400,000 in increments of 200,000. The horizontal axis is labeled in years and ranges from 2000 to 2016 in increments of 1 year. There are 5 lines plotted on the same graph for each category: White, Black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaskan Native. the general appearance of the lines is as follows:

  • The line for White starts at approximately 950,000 in year 2000 and decreases slightly to approximately 925,000 year 2001. from years 2001 to 2013 the line increases steadily to approximately 1,200,000. from years 2013 to 2016 the line decreases gradually to approximately 1,100,000.

  • The line for Black starts at approximately 110,000 and gradually increases over the course of the graph ending at approximately 200,000 at year 2016.

  • The line for Hispanic starts at approximately 80,000 and gradually increases over the course of the graph ending at approximately 240,000 at year 2016.

  • The line for Asian/Pacific Islander starts at approximately 80,000 and gradually increases over the course of the graph ending at approximately 140,000 at year 2016.

  • The line for American Indian/Alaskan Native starts at approximately 9,000 and gradually increases until year 2010 at approximately 12,000. from years 2010 to 2016 the line gradually decreases to approximately 10,000.

  1. Are the data displayed in the graph above discrete or continuous?

  2. What is the level of measurement of the data?

  3. Are the data above time series or cross-sectional data?

  4. Examine the data for each race/ethnicity group. Do the data represent a stationary or nonstationary process? Explain your reasoning for each.

  5. Do any of the race/ethnicity groups exhibit a decreasing trend? Try to think of some reasons why this is true.

  6. Do any of the race/ethnicity groups show a strictly increasing trend over the entire time period from 2000 to 2016?