Read charts and graphs about the past and say what they show
Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
Jun says 8.8 million people were admitted "in 1901." Using the key, what is the correction?
- The bar covers 1901 to 1910, so 8.8 million is the yearly average
- The bar covers the ten years 1901 to 1910, about 880 thousand a year
- The bar is in thousands, so 8.8 million should read 8.8 thousand
- The bar covers the single year 1901, so the statement is right as written
Pia reads the bars for 1911 and 1921. By about what percent did the total fall?
Use the picture in question 1.
- About 72 percent, since the 1921 bar is 72 percent of the 1911 bar
- About 28 percent, found by dividing the fall by the 1911 bar
- About 39 percent, found by dividing the fall by the 1921 bar
- About 28 percent, and the graph shows that the war caused the fall
Read this first
Persons obtaining lawful permanent resident status, four decades
Decade Persons 1901 to 1910 8,795,386 1911 to 1920 5,735,811 1921 to 1930 4,107,209 1931 to 1940 528,431 Data: US Department of Homeland Security, Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2019, Table 1; decade sums by the pack's author. Each decade is the sum of ten fiscal years ending June 30.
Bo says 528,431 people in 1931 to 1940 means immigration stopped. What does the yearly figure show?
- About 53 thousand a year, so immigration stopped, since the figure is under 100 thousand
- About 53 thousand a year, a fall of about 17 percent from the 1901 to 1910 pace
- About 53 thousand a year, a sharp fall from about 880 thousand a year, but not a stop
- About 528 thousand a year, since the total is already a yearly figure
Unemployed persons, four years
Year Unemployed (thousands) Percent of civilian labor force 1929 1,550 3.2 1933 12,830 24.9 1938 10,390 19.0 1941 5,560 9.9 Data: US Census Bureau, Historical Statistics of the US, Colonial Times to 1970 (1975), series D 85-86, annual averages. The count is in thousands: 1,550 means 1,550,000 people.
From 1933 to 1938 the unemployed count fell about 19 percent but the rate fell about 24 percent. Why does Zee see a bigger fall in the rate?
- Rates are rounded down, so they fall faster than the counts do
- The labor force grew, so the same jobless count is a smaller share
- The labor force shrank, so each jobless person counted for less in the rate
- The count was estimated and the rate was measured, so they differ
DHS Table 1: who is counted
Who made it: the Office of Homeland Security Statistics, part of the US Department of Homeland Security. When: fiscal years 1820 to 2019; data file posted March 15, 2021. What it counts: persons who obtained lawful permanent resident status, that is, people admitted to live in the United States for good. Context: Counting arrivals at the land borders with Canada and Mexico was not complete until about 1908. Limits: From 1892 to 1895 the totals counted steerage passengers only, and ran 7 to 8 percent lower than another office's count for those years. What the numbers leave out: People admitted only for a short visit are counted separately. The table does not say how many people later left; the official record of departures began in 1907 and ended in 1957.
Ren says Table 1 shows how many immigrants were still in the country in 1960. What does the card say?
- It counts steerage passengers in each year from 1820 to 2019
- It counts people who crossed a border, including short-stay visitors
- It counts people admitted for good and does not say how many later left
- It counts people who stayed, since people admitted for good do not leave
Series D 85-86: how the rates were found
Who made it: the US Census Bureau, in Historical Statistics of the US, Colonial Times to 1970 (1975). When: annual averages for 1929 to 1941; published 1975. What it counts: unemployed persons in thousands, and their percent of the civilian labor force, which is the employed plus the unemployed. Context: The Federal Reserve dates the Great Depression from 1929 to 1941, with a bottom in March 1933 and a second downturn in 1937. Limits: For 1929 to 1939 the figures are estimates, found by subtracting employment from the civilian labor force; from 1940 they come from the Current Population Survey. What the numbers leave out: Yearly averages hide changes inside a year. In the survey's definition a person must have looked for work in the past 4 weeks to count as unemployed, so people not looking are not counted.
In 1941 a person wants a job but has not looked for work in the past 4 weeks. How does the series count that person, Luz asks?
- As unemployed for four more weeks, then dropped from the count
- As unemployed, since the person wants a job and has no job
- As employed, since the person is not counted among those out of work
- Not as unemployed, so the person is outside the labor force
How a person counts as in the labor force
Who made it: the US Census Bureau (1975) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2020). When: series running from 1890 to 2000. What it counts: people who are employed or unemployed. The employed include people with paid work, people working in their own business or on their own farm, and people working 15 or more hours without pay in a family member's business. The unemployed are people with no job who looked for work in the past 4 weeks and could take a job. Context: Census counts of gainful workers to 1930 started at age 10; labor force counts start at age 14 from 1940, and at age 16 from 1947. Limits: Census-year rows are counts taken once in a census year; BLS rows are annual averages of monthly survey results. What the numbers leave out: Persons keeping house are listed among those not in the labor force. The rates do not show pay or kind of work; the BLS databook separately puts women's full-time earnings at 62 percent of men's in 1979.
The card lists persons keeping house as not in the labor force. How does that affect women's rates, Tala asks?
- Women who keep house are counted as employed, which raises the rate each year
- Women who keep house are counted in the labor force if they say they would take a job
- Women who keep house are counted as unemployed, which raises the rate each year
- Housekeepers are outside the labor force, so the rate leaves out their unpaid work
Esme reads the 1929 to 1935 graph. Which statement is supported?
- The rate rose each year to 1933, then fell each year to 1935
- The rate was highest in 1932, one year before the bottom in March 1933
- About 25 million people were unemployed in 1933, the rate's height
- The rate in 1935 was about half its 1933 peak, showing the Depression was nearly over
Which statement about Noah's 1936 to 1941 graph goes beyond what the graph shows?
- The rate rose from 1937 to 1938
- The rate fell after 1938 because war orders created jobs
- The rate in 1940 was below 15 percent
- The rate in 1941 was lower than in the other five years on the graph
Use this
Graph "Women in the labor force: percent of women, census years 1890 to 1970" (Data: US Census Bureau, Historical Statistics of the US, Colonial Times to 1970 (1975), series D 29-41, census-year rows). Census year across, 1890 to 1970, a mark every 10. Women in the labor force, percent of women up, 0 to 50, a mark every 10. The line "Women's rate" joins (1890, 18.2), (1900, 20.0), (1920, 22.7), (1930, 23.6), (1940, 25.8), (1950, 29.9), (1960, 35.7), (1970, 41.4) with straight pieces. Key: one point for each census year; the height is the percent of women in the labor force. Note: There is no 1910 point because the source table has none. The rates count women 14 and over through 1940 and 16 and over from 1950. Figures from 1960 include Alaska and Hawaii. Another count of the same censuses, in a 1953 Labor Department guide, gives 18.3 for 1890 and 25.7 for 1940 (sources differ); this graph uses the Census Bureau table.
The source table has no 1910 point. Ari reads about 21 percent for 1910 off the line. What kind of value is that?
- A value from a different series for 1910, which the graph's note says is not shown
- An estimate between two real points, not a counted value
- A value accurate to a tenth, since the line between the two points is straight
- A counted value, because the line passes through 1910 on its way between two census years