Anova: Analysis of Variance for a Categorical and a Metric Variable

Abstract

In this chapter we focus on one particular kind of crime—violent crime: murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated violent crime. We address the question of whether the chances of being a victim of violent crime are the same from one part of the country to another. Then, if we do find that the number of violent crimes is not the same in different parts of the country, where are the high and low incidences of violent crime? These questions are more than theoretical. Insult and injury are at stake.

According to many surveys, one of the major social concerns of people today is crime. Consequently, much discussion is focused on crime in political debates, in daily news reports, and among neighbors and friends, and it is hard to get a balanced sense of the importance of this issue. Are crime rates alarmingly high, or do we have less to worry about than we think?

We might ask many questions about crime. One is whether the crime rates are different in different regions of the country. Is it “safer” to live in one region versus another? Another question is whether the number of crimes has been increasing.