Population Assessment Windshield Assessment The purpose of this assignment is to explore characteristics of different areas of your local community, and to explore them in some detail

Population assessment assignment instructions

The purpose of this assignment is to explore characteristics of different areas of your local community, and to explore them in some detail. This, combined with your windshield assessment, will give you a clearer understanding of the population that you will be studying in more detail.

Directions: Open the attachment for details and instructions about how to complete this assignment. Please remember to view the screencast FIRST as it will make the work much easier! The link to the screencast is on the attached form.

Once this work is completed, your assignment is to submit a report describing the information that you found.

1. In a paragraph or two, briefly describe your decision process in deciding which two zip codes to study. Are they geographically close or far apart? What factors influenced your decision to select these zip codes?
2. Create a table to display the information that you found in Part 1. The rows on the table should be the two zip codes. You should create a column for each of the following categories:
3. Population
4. Education level
5. Income level
6. Ethnic origins/language
7. Percent at poverty level
8. # of elementary schools
9. # if high schools
10. # eligible for school lunches
11. Report on your analysis of this data and on your visit to grocery stores in the two zip code areas. Did anything surprise you? How does this information relate to what you physically saw when you did your windshield survey? How do these findings relate to community nursing and public health in general?

This report should be written in APA format, and should be 3-4 pages in length.

The link for population data is: https://data.census.gov/cedsci/

PLEASE PICK ANY 2 ZIP CODES BELOW. 

77083, 77072, 77065, 77069

Part 1

The US Census Factfinder website illustrated in the screencast is no longer available. You will need to take a few more steps to find the necessary data. Remember you are looking for data for 2 local zip codes, each with a different demographic mix (low income v affluent, different racial mix, etc) If you live in a rural area you may need to research the next closest community to your own for comparison.

Go to :  https://data.census.gov/cedsci/

• In the “I’m looking for…” search box at the top of the page enter your first zip code followed by General Population and Housing Characteristics. (21117 General Population and Housing Characteristics)
• On this page you will see:
• A total population estimate at the top
• A list of related searches for this zip code including ZCTA5 Tables with data for Education, Income and Poverty, Race and Ethnicity on the right
• Below the total population estimate you will see a table titled ACS Demographic and Housing Data. Select this table and a full table of information will open. In the column on the left you will see additional tables such as Total Population 2018 5 year estimate and Total Population 2010 Census. If you scroll down this list you will find a table for Demographic Characteristics. If you select this table and scroll down within the table you will see data for race and ethnicity as well as educational attainment.
• After looking at the data in the Demographic Characteristics table you may want to toggle back to the General Population and Housing Characteristics page and access the tables listed in the related searches column.
• Alternatively, you may want to return to the home page. In the “I’m looking for…” search box type in the table you’d like (21117 Languages). In this example, a table Languages Spoken at Home will populate for the specified zip code. Just as in the past example, if you select this table, other similar tables will populate in the left hand column.
• At a minimum you want to find the following information for each zip code: Population, Education Level, Income Level, Origins/Languages, Percentage of People in Poverty
• You will be an expert at locating data after exploring this website!
• The good news is the school data can be found just as shown in the screencast at http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/ 
• After finding data related to schools in the zip codes, compare the data to what you found in the census website. Is there a relationship between income, ethnicity, poverty level, etc. At a minimum, include # of elementary schools, # of high schools, and # eligible for school lunches

Part 2

The affordability of healthy food choices is important for every family in our community.  There are often significant variations in the availability and quality of these choices, depending on where you live.  You can expand your windshield assessment overview by visiting grocery stores in the two zip codes that you researched in Part 1.  When you do this, look for the following, at a minimum:

1. the condition/and state of repair of the store, building, parking lot and neighborhood surroundings (use all of your senses);
2. the specials that are most visible in the entrance;
3. amount, variety, quality and price of fresh fruits and vegetables, including organic products and
4. amount, variety, quality and price of butcher counter services.

A note about this assignment: Use your good judgment when visiting stores in all neighborhoods. Consider your safety at all times.  Go in the daytime, and consider taking someone with you.  If you do not feel safe in completing this assignment, discuss it with your instructor.