Noelle Edmonson

Core AIDS

 

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a fatal virus that has spread throughout the nation. However, the rate of AIDS has been increasing in my area of the nation, specifically Westchester County. The AIDS rate in Westchester County is higher than that of New York State and the nation (table). I did research on the 53 zip codes in Westchester County and I found some interesting data. There are certain parts of Westchester that particularly has a high rate of AIDS such as Bedford Hills, Valhalla, White Plains, and my own city of Yonkers, specifically my zip code. When I wrote my first paper I only discussed the living AIDS cases. However, I knew that I needed to find the cumulative AIDS cases because they would allow me to see the historical AIDS data in Westchester County and it would make possible for a comparison between the present rates and the past rates. I chose to research demographic data that I thought may have been strong reasons as to why the AIDS rate per 100,000 was high in certain parts of Westchester. The correlations that will be analyzed are greater than .4 and at 50 the correlation is strong when it is .279 at 95%. Most of the correlations that will be analyzed are cumulative.

 

There are parts of Westchester County where the population makes a good amount of money, don’t make as much money, and there are those that are poverty stricken. Therefore, I decided to correlate the cumulative percent income below poverty level to AIDS rate. I also decided to correlate this because from previous research I discovered that there is usually a correlation between education and poverty. Where there is poverty, there is usually a low level of education. The correlation between AIDS rate and the percent income below poverty level was a very strong positive correlation of .722. The lower the poverty levels the higher the AIDS rate. This is probably most likely due to the fact that those areas do not have a sufficient amount of money to set up places, such as clinics, to combat the virus.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After finding the correlation between cumulative AIDS rate and percent income below poverty level, I wanted to see if the correlation would be different if a correlation was done between AIDS rate and income above poverty level. I thought that it should be the opposite since communities with a higher income would be able to afford to set up clinics or AIDS prevention centers. Also because they have a higher income, they have better resources and programs to educate people about the virus. I found that I was correct. There was a strong, negative correlation of -.743. The higher the percentage of income above the poverty levels the lower the AIDS rate.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Because I also researched the living AIDS cases, I decided to correlate between AIDS rate and percent income below poverty level for this category as well. The results were very similar to that of the cumulative AIDS and income below poverty level correlation. It was a positive, strong correlation. However, the correlation number, .655, was lower than that of the cumulative. This suggests that, compared to the past, more people in those communities are starting to acquire more jobs, and therefore their incomes are increasing. I also correlated AIDS rate versus percent income above poverty level as well and the correlation was higher than that of the cumulative correlation. The correlation was -.738.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

                           

 

 

 

  

 

In the first paper that I had to write, I had to say what my perceptions were about AIDS, before I started doing research. My perception, based on what I was told by others in my community, was that African Americans have the highest rate of AIDS in general because most of them are in prison or they are on the “down low”. To be on the “down low” means to be in a relationship with a woman, but sneak and have sexual relations with a man. Therefore, the men go home and give it to their wives or partners, who are African American women. This is why I chose to correlate the AIDS rate and the percent black in order to see if this was indeed correct and not just hear-say. I also wanted to see how strong the correlation would be. I then decided to keep investigating the predominant races within Westchester County. I researched both Caucasians and Hispanics and I found that out of the three races blacks had the highest rate, and white people had the second highest rate. Both the living and cumulative rates were calculated. (Table 5, Table 6, Table 7)

 

 

 

Total population

AIDS cases living

aids rate per 100000

cumulative

Total Population Race Westchester

923459

4695

508.414

 

white

895298

1434

160.17

1434

black

658858

2335

354.401

2335

Hispanic

 

144124

863

598.789

863

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The more money a community has, the more equipped it is to build places such as clinics in order to help combat AIDS. Research was done on the percent of employment of both male and females because I wanted to see who had a greater income percentage male or female. Then I wanted to see if there was a relationship between men receiving a certain amount of income and AIDS rate. I wanted to find the same for the females in Westchester County. I found that there was a strong, yet negative correlation, between AIDS rate and employment in both the males and females in Westchester County. The correlation for the females is: -.130 and for the males is: .655.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the other hand there is a very strong, positive, correlation between AIDS rate and Unemployment rate in females and males. I think is due to the fact that there is an insufficient amount of money in those communities and therefore they are not able to afford the facilities and resources in order to help their community deal with the virus. The correlation for the cumulative for males unemployed is .678 and for females unemployed the correlation is .521. The correlation for the living AIDS cases for female unemployed, .44, and for male unemployed is .549.  The cumulative correlations are stronger than that of the living. This is because there are more numbers involved from over the years as compared to just a few years. (Table 8, Table 9, Table 10, Table 11)

 

When people are educated about a danger, they have a tendency to later avoid it. There is a strong correlation between AIDS rate and Employed Males. The higher the percentage of males and females receiving bachelor degrees the lower the rate AIDS. This is because by the end of college, both females and males have most likely learned about AIDS, how it is spread, how one can get infected, and what to do in order to protect them. The cumulative correlation of males that have bachelor degrees versus AIDS rate is .55 and for females the correlation is .57.

  


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Therefore, through extensive research I have found that the rate of AIDS is greatly affected by the percentage of poverty, employment, and certain races. The data that I have found and then correlated supports my perceptions when I first started to do research on this paper. Westchester County clearly has a problem that needs to be solved among certain demographics within its community.

  

 

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