Prisoners in the Past You are going to do some real historical research. You will use data from Bury Gaol in Suffolk, from the mid-1800s.

Step 1: What is your hypothesis? Example: “ Most prisoners in the mid-1800s were given short sentences.” “ Most prisoners were young men.” “ Violent crime was very common in this time.” “ Convicted prisoners came mainly from poor backgrounds.”

Example:

“ Most prisoners in the mid-1800s were given short sentences.”

“ Most prisoners were young men.”

“ Violent crime was very common in this time.”

“ Convicted prisoners came mainly from poor backgrounds.”

Step 2: Using the Data StudentCommon$/Humanities/History/GCSE/Crime and Punishment/Bury Gaol Use MS Excel to create a spreadsheet. Decide upon a sample – e.g. 30 prisoner records, chosen at random. How will you ensure randomness? Decide on the columns of the spreadsheet – name, age, gender, occupation, crime, sentence etc Compile the data Present it in graph form. Does it support or contradict your hypothesis? Simple! You are now an Historian!

Use MS Excel to create a spreadsheet.

Decide upon a sample – e.g. 30 prisoner records, chosen at random. How will you ensure randomness?

Decide on the columns of the spreadsheet – name, age, gender, occupation, crime, sentence etc

Compile the data

Present it in graph form.

Does it support or contradict your hypothesis?

Simple! You are now an Historian!