Period Life Tables: A Resource for Quantitative Literacy

dc.creator	Thomas J. Pfaff
dc.creator	Stanley Seltzer
dc.date	2012-01-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-07-20T22:13:38Z
dc.date.available	2015-07-20T22:13:38Z
dc.identifier	1936-4660
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/d4fdfdf9b5374454bbd7ddb63be07636
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/16190
dc.description	A period life table provides an estimate of the probability that a person will die at a particular age. Using data available online, we examine tables of expected years to live for males and females against age for three populations: the United States in 2007, the U.S. at the turn of the twentieth century, and the Roman Empire. Scatter plots of males and females for each population show how life expectancy increases with age (e.g., U.S. 2007: 50 year-old female > 40 year-old female > 45 year-old male). The three data sets allow historical comparisons (e.g., of gender disparity, larger now; of infant mortality, smaller now). Regression lines for the linear portion of the plots (ages 5 to 70) show the annual increase in the years to live (e.g., U.S. 2007: 0.11 years for men, 0.07 years for women). Residual plots show that, even though the coefficients of determination of the line exceed 0.99, a concave-up, decreasing function would be a better model. The residual plots also reveal a curious inflection for the males that is not evident for the females. Such examples from period life tables might be presented in a discussion of life expectancy; alternatively, one or more could add to an introduction to regression, particularly illustrating the value of residual plots in understanding a data set.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	University of South Florida Libraries
dc.relation	http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/1936-4660.5.1.5
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/1936-4660
dc.rights	CC BY-NC
dc.source	Numeracy, Vol 5, Iss 1, p 5 (2012)
dc.subject	Statistics
dc.subject	Social science
dc.subject	Educational resource
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Mathematics
dc.subject	QA1-939
dc.subject	Science
dc.subject	Q
dc.subject	DOAJ:Mathematics
dc.subject	DOAJ:Mathematics and Statistics
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Mathematics
dc.subject	QA1-939
dc.subject	Science
dc.subject	Q
dc.subject	DOAJ:Mathematics
dc.subject	DOAJ:Mathematics and Statistics
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Mathematics
dc.subject	QA1-939
dc.subject	Science
dc.subject	Q
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Mathematics
dc.subject	QA1-939
dc.subject	Science
dc.subject	Q
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Mathematics
dc.subject	QA1-939
dc.subject	Science
dc.subject	Q
dc.title	Period Life Tables: A Resource for Quantitative Literacy
dc.type	article