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Many people are often heard stating how they would never take their life as it has more value. However, one cannot assume the number of times they hear about people committing suicide for different reasons. Even though people commit suicide for different reasons, at the end of the day, lives are lost. This creates the dilemma as to whether this large number of people claiming they would never take their lives equals that of the ones who end up doing the opposite. The victims of this act can be either one’s friends, family members, or even strangers in some cases. Therefore, this essay exam will analyze how a scholarly journal determines whether the suicide rates in the United States are increasing based on the provided statistical information. According to Sabrina Tavernise, suicide rates are increasing in the US, and this is based on a 30-year study survey. The New York Times published her article, which is an American based newspaper whose headquarters is in Manhattan. Robert claims that there is a relationship between poverty, hopelessness, and health. He states that this is the primary trigger for most suicide cases in the United States. She also uses a National Center for Health Statistics Journal “Increase in Suicide in the United States, 1999–2014” as her main source for the statistical date in the article. [“Write my essay for me?” Get help here.]
This article states that there is an increase in suicide rates among US citizens. It adds that the rates are higher among people in the older age cohorts. It goes to break down the research to look at the differences based on gender and age differences. In addition, it also relies on the comparison of information from the 1950s to show the increased suicide rates. It also goes to suggest some of the factors that have caused the increased suicide rates. The Null hypothesis in this article states that there is no change in the suicide rates in the United States while the Alternative Hypothesis states that due to several factors, such as poverty and hopelessness, there has been a rise in suicide rates in the United States. [Click Essay Writer to order your essay]
The article breaks down the analysis based on age and gender. It shows that persons between the ages 45-64 experienced an increase in suicide rates. In women, the rates increased by 63 percent while men experienced a 43 percent increase of the same. It records that 42,773 deaths were recorded in 2014, and this was attributed to suicide. The overall statistics also show the suicidal rates based on the total population. It shows that by 1986, the suicide rates had increased by 2 percent to 13 per 100,000 people. It also marks that between 1999-2014, there was a rise in suicide rates by 24 percent. It would be significant to note that the total deaths attributed to suicides are compared to that of 1999, in which only 29,199 people died. While the older age groups marked the biggest increase in suicide rates, the younger age groups marked an increase as well. According to Katherine, the increased suicidal rates in the middle age group can be widely attributed to the distress caused by personal finances and employment. She claims that such persons consider suicide the way out of their stressful lives while trying to deal with the harsh economic times. The American Indians also mark an increased suicide rates at 89 percent and 38 percent for men and women respectively. Education is also used as a basis of showing the differences in suicide rates. This study shows that the less educated American white population have marked an increase death rates due to social problems such as drug overdose, alcohol poisoning, and liver diseases among many others. While considering this population, the common factor among all victims was desperation. The article also adds that the increased suicide rates could be attributed to the manner in which people have been raised. The target population of this study is the baby boom (born after the World War II). This population has been brought up by the virtue of self-reliance, and that is why they rarely seek help even while facing depression. This explains why they turn to poor decisions such as drug abuse.
The presentation of data in this research is well detailed, and it helps a reader understand the different rates through which the American population has faced in relation to suicides. The choice of 1999 as the initial period of the survey is also well explained as it marked the lowest suicide rates in the American history. This means that it can easily show whether the rates are on the rise or not. While this article includes all the vital details people need to understand the suicide rate dynamics in the American population, the flow of information is inconsistent. A reader would be unable to understand the sections that are most affected by high rates as opposed to others without. For instance, it states that Black men have marked a sharp decrease in suicide rates. However, it fails to state the percentage with which the decrease in marked. Even the use of graphs in the article clearly shows that many readers would not obtain much information without having to read the article. In addition, it also fails to mention the general population of the initial year (1999) from which it was able to derive all the statistical information. It would have been prudent to show the total population of the United States and then use that to determine the suicide rates among different age and gender groups. This should also have applied while considering individual population such as the American Indians, Black men, and American White Population. The causes of suicide rates are also not consistently arranged throughout the article. It states the main causes as economic performances, poverty, hopelessness, and marriage issues. It fails to state that these causes do not apply to all age groups. It would have been professionals to provide the statistics of the affected age groups based on each causative agent. The explanation of the suicide gap between men and women is vague with the article only quoting the statistics involved. It has failed to explain why the gap is reducing at a rapid rate. It only states that the death rates of women in relation to suicide are increasing and almost reaching that of men.
This article has obviously been written for an audience with little or no knowledge of statistics. Given the fact that it is a newspaper article, perhaps, Sabrina just meant to make it understandable to all readers. This would explain why she uses descriptive statistics all through the article with very simple graphs. An average reader would understand very little from the provided graphs since they even lack proper titles. In addition to the lack of titles, the labeling is not consistent, and that means the chances of people choosing to rely on the written information and avoid the graphs would be higher. In comparison of the graphs to those of the National Center of Health Statistics, there is a huge difference. The latter has well-labelled graphs with all information required to help one interpret the presented data. A good statistics student will obviously choose to use the same graphs or even if one aims at saving on space then picking a few but ensuring they are well detailed. Doing this will increase the credibility of the research and help all readers understand the impact of such an interesting title.
In addition, the conclusion of the article is vague and does not add any value to the title. The title states that “U.S. Suicide Rate Surges to a 30-Year High” while the conclusion is based on the fact that female and male suicides are also on the rise and the gap is decreasing. This demonstrates poor skills on both structure and description of data. If Sabrina were to rearrange the facts in this and classify it under several subtopics, then it would have been easier to guarantee a logical flow of facts. However, her choice of paragraphs has made the article structure poor, and that can easily fail to convince the readers that there is an actual increase in suicide rates. The provided causes of suicide among people appear valid, but then the structure can easily make a critic question the information. For instance, it does not state any relation between hopelessness, poverty, and health. It has to provide credible evidence for a reader to understand the psychological impacts of poverty and hopelessness in society.
The aspect of gun and marriage related suicide is common among many people. Even the average reader would easily understand that section of the article. The use of descriptive statistics still makes the point vague especially for people looking to validate such information. However, one thing that stands out between the comparison of the Newspaper article and the Scholarly Journal is the details involved in the document. It would be rare to find the average reader take his/her time to read such a journal. For such people, the newspaper provides them with all the information they need in the simplest vocabulary. On the other hand, a statistics student would find Scholarly Journal most useful, as it will provide all relevant details needed to ascertain the topic. From a social point of view, this shows different people can always find reading materials that suit their personal needs. However, the fact that Sabrina cited the Scholarly Journal in different sections of the newspaper article still makes her article useful even for scholars. Such people just have to follow the links and find the Journal from which they can find all the data needed.
In conclusion, the article’s focus was proving that the US had experienced increased suicide rates from 1999-2014. To achieve this, it was to achieve the first objective of linking the association of poverty, health, and hopelessness. The second objective was to use credible data to show that suicide rates were indeed increasing. In this process, the article has failed to provide useful information linking hopelessness and poverty to health as the cause of suicides, especially in different age groups. In addition, it has also failed to provide readers with credible data that can be used to ascertain the increased rates of suicides. When comparing Sabrina’s article with the National Center for Health Statistics Journal, it would be right to state that the latter provides better details as opposed to the Newspaper article.
Works Cited
Curtin, Sally C. Increase in Suicide in the United States, 1999–2014. April 2016. Web. 22 July 2016.
Tavernise, Sabrina. U.S. Suicide Rate Surges to a 30-Year High. 22 April 2016. Web. 22 July 2016.
