The Salary Investigation

Part 1: How do math skills impact job salary?

1. Define the question

• What impact do the mathematical requirements for a job have on its salary?

2. Collecting the data

• Use the following web site: America's Career InfoNet



• Determine a way to mathematize the mathematical requirements for jobs. See the knowledge, skills and abilities section for each job and determine a way to "measure" the amount of mathematical skills needed for a specific job. (The knowledge, skills and abilities section is linked to the bottom of the "Wages and trends-occupation report" page.)



• Collect data on 5 different jobs that have a wide range in mathematical skills. Record the following information on each job in a table, using EXCEL. (Be sure to only collect data from one state for this investigation.)
  1. Job Title and description
  2. Mathematical Measure for math requirements
  3. Median Hourly Salary

3. Representing the data

• Create a scatter plot composed of data of the form (math measure, hourly salary).

4. Interpreting the data and forming conclusions

Consider the following questions when interpreting the data:

1. What is nature of the relationship between the mathematical measures of the requirements and the median hourly salary?
   1. Describe in words and then quantify, if possible.
   2. Try to describe the general trend of the data. (EXCEL can draw in a trend line for you that can help you determine the general slope-just "right-click" on a data point in the chart and choose to "Add a trendline".)

5. Presenting the results

PowerPoint presentation (Guide)

• Slide 1: The big question and names of group member
• Slide 2: Jobs/Careers investigated with data
• Slide 3: Assumptions/Methodology
• Slide 4: Results and Conclusions
• Slide 5: Limitations/Next Step

Go on to Part 2

Social Investigations:
[Population] [Career] [Trash]

This page was created by Tiffany Barnes for the Girls on Track teacher training and student enrichment Summer Camp 2003.

URL http://ontrack.ncsu.edu/SummerCamp/2003/Explore/Career/page1.html