EDUCATION
I. High School Dropout Rate
The high school dropout rate’s correlation is substantially lower than many other correlations in this report (the calculation comes to .77 with Bridgeport and a .52 without). This set of data shows much more variation amongst towns with lower AIDS rates than in many other sets, suggesting perhaps it is not the best indicator as it does not bunch these towns together (which are more similar than different on most accounts). In other words, towns with lower AIDS rates (mostly under 200 per 100,000 people) tend to cluster on most other graphs (see, for example, the percent white or teen births graphs). On the other hand, .52 is still well above the 95% confidence cutoff (.423) and suggests, nonetheless, a positive relationship between high school dropout rates and AIDS rates. On the map, on can see that two towns in particular, Bridgeport and Danbury, stand out. These two towns have some of the highest AIDS rates in the county. (Table 5)
II. SAT Verbal Scores
Similarly, SAT Verbal Scores relate to AIDS rates, and with a much stronger correlation coefficient (-.82) than with high school dropout rates. Combined, both graphs might suggest that level or quality of education plays some role in the spread of AIDS. Perhaps, for example, schools in which the academic program is floundering (as might be indicated by testing scores) might spend more resources and effort in improving those, rather than on the health education department. (Table 6)
III. Teen Birth Rates
The strong correlation between the number of teen births and AIDS rates may seem a surprising fit under the category of education, but upon closer examination this may not be so. A higher number of teen births could very well be indicative of either a lack of sex education, a heightened level of promiscuity among teens in a particular town, or a combination of both, all of which could certainly affect the number of AIDS cases in the area. As evidenced by the scatter plot, Bridgeport is, yet again, an outlier. While the correlation is .92 with Bridgeport, removing the city (which reported an astonishing 429 teen births in 1998) yields a correlation coefficient is actually .94, indicating an even stronger relationship. On the shaded map, this association is further emphasized. (Table 7)
