Spring 2000

Use the data in "Boston1850select.xls" and Excel to answer the following questions. You are encouraged to sort the data before proceeding with further analysis. You may also find the subtotal options (under the Data menu) useful. The completed problem sets are due in class on Wed., March 8. You may submit them in either hardcopy or electronic format.

1. Which trade (category of business) had the largest number of firms?
2. Which trade (category of business) employed the largest number of people --men and women combined? (Note: You should create a new column of data in answering this question and save that column for future use.)
3. What was the mean capital per firm and mean number of employees per firm in the following trades: brassfounding, clothing, printing, shoemaking, and tailoring?
4. What was the standard deviation for capital per firm and the standard deviation for the number of employees per firm in the following trades: brassfounding, clothing, printing, shoemaking, and tailoring?
5. What do your findings in #3 and #4 reveal about the structure of the trades examined?
6. For the entire data set, make a pie chart that illustrates the distribution of firms by trade.
7. For the entire data set, make a pie chart that illustrates the distribution of employees by trade.
8. For the entire data set, make a bar chart that illustrates the distribution of firms according to size of firm as grouped into the following categories: 1-5 employees, 6-10 employees, 11-25 employees, 26-100 employees, 101 or more employees.
9. For the entire data set, make a bar chart that illustrates the distribution of workers according to size of firm as grouped into the following categories: 0-5 employees, 6-10 employees, 11-25 employees, 26-100 employees, 101 or more employees.
10. Of all 15 trades included in the data set, which was most industrialized in 1850? Explain your reasoning.