Using Graphs in Social Studies
Graphs, visualizations of data, are a great tool for all subjects. Graphs can show data that is surprising to us and reveal human’s shortcomings in assessing statistics. The two graphs included show violent crime rates in the US in the first and perceptions of crime rates in the second. These graphs would make an excellent social studies lesson, tying in the recent RNC convention speech Donald Trump gave citing rising crime levels and promising to be the “law and order” president that makes people safe.Â
While the first graph does not show crime in the most recent year, the overall trend over the past 20 years is a reduction in crime.Â
(Source: Citylab.com; Data: FBI)
What does not appear to be decreasing is people’s perception of crime. The data below ends at 2011 and I would hypothesize that the proportion of people thinking crime increased would be up in future years, especially after the Michael Brown shootings in Ferguson, Missouri. The graph below is interesting. There has been a slight drop since the early 90′s in perceived crime which matched the actual drop in crime but since 2002 the overall trend is to believe that crime is increasing. The 2002 data was most interesting to me, I would expect that to come as a result of post-9/11 domestic peace.Â
Showing these graphs to a class and having them analyze the data you could lead to a discussion about why Donald Trump’s speech may have helped him even though crime is lower than any other point in the past 25 years. Republicans were criticized for saying that people feel less safe after Trump’s speech but the truth is that people do believe they are less safe. Those people are wrong but that will not change their voting patterns. I think this could lead to a very interesting discussion about current politics.