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Population over 50,000?
Q1. I am currently teaching
in an area that has been expanding rapidly over the last decade. Because
of this expansion, I am not sure if the population of this community exceeds
50,000. How can I find out which lesson plans I should be following?
A1. Before you start to follow
a lesson plan, you should always have some idea of whether your community
has a population over or under 50,000. Follow the instructions listed below
to find out where your community stands:
PART A
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Invoke the E-Stat program by clicking on (http://estat.statcan.ca).
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Accept the licence agreement.
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Click on the Data link along the
top.
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Under the People heading, choose any link (ie: Labour)
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Under the Census databases heading, choose any folder (ie:
Unemployment)
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Now choose the link which looks like this: "Labour
Force Activity, Occupation and Industry, Place of Work, Mode of transportation
to Work, Unpaid Work (1996 Census of Population (43 Large Urban
Centres, Census Tracts (neighbourhood)))".
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Click on the down arrow in the
Geography
section and check if your community is listed.
If so, then your city is
among the 43 Large Urban Centres with a population over 50,000.
If not, we cannot conclude
that your city is not 'included' with the 43 Large Urban Centres. For example,
Whitby is not on the list as one of the 43 Large Urban Centres, but it
has a population of over 60,000. Oshawa, which is a much larger urban centre
(over 130,000 persons), is adjacent to Whitby. The census tract data for Whitby
is included with Oshawa's, therefore the lesson plans dealing with the
43 Large Urban Centres (population over 50,00) must be used.
Follow the steps in
Part B to find out if your city is included with an adjacent city.
PART B
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Make sure that you have not selected a city. The
Geography
drop-down list should read "1996 - 43 Large Urban Centres in Canada".
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Scroll down to the Search
by Postal Code section. Type in the exact postal code for your
school.
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Scroll down to the Characteristics
section. Click on the first variable in the list.
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Scroll further down the web
page. Click on the Map icon.
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If you receive an error message (ex:
C91
- Error: Postal Code does not exist:),
your community does not have a population greater than 50,000 and is not
included in one of the large urban centres.
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If you don't receive an error
message, and you have a map on screen, your community has a population
greater than 50,000, or is included in one of the census metropolitan areas
(large urban centres).
What is the Beyond 20/20 Browser?
Q2. In Lesson 2B
and 3B for
the Internet version of E-STAT, you can use the Beyond 20/20 Browser. I am
able to follow the steps involved with the browser, but I am not clear
on what exactly it is. If I don't know what it is, it will be difficult
to explain the Browser to my students.
A2. In the Beyond 20/20 Browser,
there is a help option on your menu bar. In the help option, click
on About Beyond 20/20.... You will be given detailed information
on the Browser's uses.
Here is some of that information:
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The Beyond 20/20 Browser is a decision support tool to help you manage, find, understand, and use to best advantage. |
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The Browser is a mouse-driven, Windows-based program, and available in English or French. |
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The Browser creates custom tables, retrieves the information in them and displays this information in table, chart, and map views. |
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You can use the browser to explore data, to isolate trends over time, and to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your organization. |
NOTE: The Beyond 20/20 Browser is not a
spreadsheet application (like Microsoft Excel). See Q4
for further details.
(Beyond 20/20 Browser 4.1:
User's guide p. 8. Copyright 1992-1996 by the Ivation Datasystems Inc.)
Charts in the Beyond 20/20 Browser:
Q3. When I create a chart
using the Beyond 20/20 Browser, can I change the titles or labels on my
x and y-axis?
A3. The lesson plans on this
site do not involve detailed work in the Beyond 20/20 Browser. If you were
going to create your own custom tables from Beyond 20/20, then you would
be able to do a little bit of manipulation with the charts.
If you would like to edit
your charts in other ways, by clicking on the right button on your
mouse, you can use:
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Chart Options... to change
the chart type (i.e. pie chart, line chart,...) |
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Chart Link... to link
or unlink dimensions |
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Switch Axes to switch
the x and y-axis |
Also, by double clicking on
the coloured boxes in your Legend, you are able to change the Colour, Hatch
Style and Border Colour for the corresponding bars (or lines, or sections,...)
on your chart.
Is the Beyond 20/20 Browser a spreadsheet?
Q4. Does the Beyond 20/20
Browser have similar applications of a spreadsheet?
A4. The Beyond 20/20 Browser
has many useful applications, but it is not a spreadsheet program. Spreadsheet
programs such as Microsoft Excel and Lotus 1-2-3, are "calculating" software.
With spreadsheets, users develop the worksheet and have to enter the data
they need and want for their calculations. The Beyond 20/20 Browser, however,
creates
custom tables. With spreadsheets you are able to select the information
you want to be in a chart and easily manipulate the charts. Even though
the Beyond 20/20 Browser does not allow users to manipulate the charts,
they are not intended to be changed. By using the Browser users will be
able to view selected data in a table and/or chart setting. Users will
then easily be able to read and get a better understanding of the data. If
you would like to be able to manipulate the data in a spreadsheet, follow these
instructions.
How can E-Stat help me learn more about a
community?
Q5. I have an interview
at Central Huron Secondary School in Clinton, Ontario in two weeks. I know
that Clinton belongs to the Avon Maitland District School Board (pre-1998:
Huron County Board of Education) and it is located in South Western Ontario.
I am originally from Cochrane and have never had the chance to visit that
part of Ontario. In order to prepare myself for this interview, I feel
that I should learn more about the area but I don't have enough money to
visit there. How can E-STAT help me?
A5. By using E-STAT you can
easily choose from 600 census variables to provide you with the information
needed to familiarize yourself with a community. The following steps will
help you collect this raw data. Before you start, you need to know
if your community has a population under or above 50,000. If you do not
know, please follow the steps in A1 (above).
Community with Population
under 50,000
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Open the internet and go to (http://estat.statcan.ca).
Choose your preferred language and then accept the licence agreement.
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Click on the
Data link.
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Now choose one of many subjects by clicking on the link.
For example, under the People heading, choose the Labour
link.
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On the next page,
you will see two sections; CANSIM II and Census databases.
For now, you will be concerned with the Census databases. Under
this heading, choose one of the links, such as Unemployment.
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Now click on the link: "Labour
Force Activity, Occupation and Industry, Place of
Work, Mode of transportation to Work, Unpaid Work
(1996 Census of Population (Provinces, Census
Divisions, Municipalities))".
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Click on the text box under
the Geography heading. Scroll and highlight the appropriate
sub-provincial
region for your school (area) [ex. Census subdivisions in Ontario - 1996
- Stratford - Bruce Peninsula (100 areas)].
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There are a great number of variables to choose from. In order
to select the variables, you need to hold down the CTRL key while
you click on them. When you are done selecting the variables you find relevant
to your search, click on the Reduce of Sort Geographic List icon
on the bottom of the web page.
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You will now see on the screen
a list of subdivisions. Find (scroll) the geographic subdivision that pertains
to your school (area) and click on it. Scroll further down the web page
and click on the Table Area as Columns icon.
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The variables you selected should
be displayed with the corresponding data. If you would like to get the data as a percentage,
click in the "Data as % of 1st characteristic" button. Now click
on the "Redisplay As:" button.
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You now have a table with the data as a percent.
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Click File on top of
your screen. Select Print to print your table and select Save
as... to save your table.
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You can
also graph the data by clicking on the Graph
icon.
Communities with
Population over 50,000
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Open the internet and go to (http://estat.statcan.ca).
Choose your preferred language and then accept the licence agreement.
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Click on the
Data link.
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Now choose one of many subjects by clicking on the link.
For example, under the People heading, choose the Labour
link.
-
On the next page,
you will see two sections; CANSIM II and Census databases.
For now, you will be concerned with the Census databases. Under
this heading, choose one of the links, such as Unemployment.
-
Now click on the link: "Labour
Force Activity, Occupation and Industry, Place of
Work, Mode of transportation to Work, Unpaid Work
(1996 Census of Population (43 Large Urban Centres,
Census Tracts (neighbourhood)))".
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Click on the
drop-down list under
the Geography heading. Scroll and highlight the appropriate urban centre
[ie: Large Urban Centres in Ontario - 1996 - North Bay (21 Areas)] ... OR
(making sure you have not selected a city), enter the postal code for your
school.
-
Depending on the section you
choose there are a great number of variables to choose from. In order
to select the variables, you need to hold down the CTRL key while
you click on them. When you are done selecting the variables you find relevant
to your search, click on the Reduce of Sort Geographic List icon
at the bottom of the web page.
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You will now see on the screen
a list of census tracts. Find (scroll) the area that pertains
to your school and click on it. Scroll further down the web page
and click on the Table Area as Columns icon.
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The variables you selected should
be displayed with the corresponding data. If you would like to get the data as a percentage,
click in the "Data as % of 1st characteristic" button. Now click
on the "Redisplay As:" button.
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You now have a table with the data as a percent.
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Click File on top of
your screen. Select Print to print your table and select Save
as... to save your table.
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You can
also graph or map this data. To do this, follow
the instructions in Lesson
2B.
Graphs that do not look good ...
Q6. I have a graph whose output is not very good.
Why did I get this type of graph? And how do I fix it?
Note:
these solutions assume that you have the distorted graph on screen.
A6. There are many reasons as to why a graph can end up
being distorted or hard to read. The most likely reasons are
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The variable names are too long. The variable names take up the majority of
the page and leave very little room for the actual graph. To solve this
problem, once you have your graph on screen, scroll to near the bottom of
the page. Click on the "Specify titles" button. Now
enter shorter, more appropriate names for the titles. Your graph
should
now be neat and easy to read. |
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There are too many variables. This causes the
graph to be distorted. To solve this problem, click on the
"Reduce Characteristic List" button at the bottom of the page. Now choose fewer
variables (the ones you believe to be the most important) and click on the Graph
icon. You should now have a graph that is easy to read. |
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There are too many areas (ie: census tracts,
cities, townships, etc.). This causes the graph to be distorted.
To solve this problem, click on the Reduce/Sort Geo List
button. You now have a list of areas. Choose a narrower field of
areas [ie: if you had 21 areas chosen before, try to narrow it down to about
4 of the most significant areas (areas closest to yours school)]. Now
click on the Graph icon. The graph
on screen now should be easy to read. |
Search the E-Stat Program:
Q7. I cannot find what I am looking for in the E-Stat
program. Is there a search function I can use to find what I am looking
for?
A7. There is a search function that you can use to search
E-Stat. Click here to get the
instructions on how to find it.
Find and Using Statistics:
Click here to
find out how to find and use statistics from the Statistics Canada web page.
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