This document outlines a study examining divorce and marriage rates in the United States from 1990-2005. It analyzes rates by state, region, race, and other variables. The study hypothesizes that the state and environment one grows up in can impact their divorce or marriage rates. Graphs show the Northeast generally has lower divorce rates than other regions. Rates are also higher among white respondents compared to black respondents, potentially due to socioeconomic factors like incarceration rates affecting the black community.

1. Problem Definition (Lab 4) Ebonie Brown Social Work 300 October 8, 2008

2. States in America All 50 states Years of divorce rates 1990-2005 Races/Nationalities Black, white Variable Name Value Independent Dependent Control

3. Hypothesis and Rationale Bivariate State in the Unites States of America Divorce and marriage rate The state in which a person grows up in affects his or her divorce or marriage rate. The type of environment and cultural background someone has , the higher or lower their chances of marriage or divorce will be. In this sense, the better an environment is that a person grows up in will effect their divorce and/or marriage rates.

4. Hypotheses and Rationale Multivariate Race State Marriage and Divorce rate The race that a person is may affect the environment or state that they grow up in. Such as if someone is latino they may grow up around other latinos with latino or Catholic beliefs and this variable affects their marriage and divorce rates. This is true for other cultures and races as well.

5. Divorce and Marriage rates by Regions/States States(by regions) Divorce rates 10% or less 0 3 5 2 20% or less 0 1 3 2 30% or less 1 2 3 4 40% or less 1 5 2 2 50% or less 1 1 0 4 60% or less 8 0 0 5 Northeast Midwest South West

6. Divorce/Marriage Rates by States/rates by Race Race of Respondents White Respondents Black Respondents Divorce rates 10% or less 0 3 20% or less 0 4 30% or less 3 4 40% or less 4 3 50% or less 4 2 60% or less 7 1 Northeast South Divorce Rates NE South 10% or less 3 6 20% or less 4 5 30% or less 2 2 40% or less 3 3 50% or less 0 0 60% or less 0 0

7. Bivariate Graph and Discussion In the above figure , this chart represents how widespread the problem has become. It shows the trend of the issue of marriage and divorce in all four regions of the United States of America. As shown in the chart, the northeast region has always mostly rated less than the west, Midwest and south regions. The data that is represented in this chart can be interpreted to mean that the northeast region of the U.S may get married later and therefore may have lower divorce rates. The others regions represented in this data may have cultural differences that may explain why their divorce rates are higher.

8. In the above figure, we see that there are higher divorce and marriage rates in the white community. Studies show more Caucasian people are married. There are only around 14 million African Americans in the United States of America but there are more than doubled white people in America. We can interpret this graph to represent more whites being married and divorced. But why is this? Many studies have shown that there is a shortage of black men. There are more black men in prison than in college in the United States of America. This is very sad and constitutes for why the rates of marriage and divorces are lower in the black communities.