The task:
Compare and contrast at least two approaches to measuring poverty (e.g. below 60% median income, minimum income standard, material deprivation,
material deprivation & low income etc.). Produce descriiptive statistics to show how many and what kinds of people experience poverty using these
measures from the latest version (2019/20) of The Households Below Average Income dataset. This is the most recent version of the dataset. The dataset
can be found in the ‘HBAI assessment data and info’ folder below.
Write up your findings in a report that includes discussion of the following issues:
Background (500 words) [15 marks]
Short background literature review of concepts and measures of poverty. The bibliography is part of the marks for this section.
Methods (1,000 words) [25 marks]
A short outline of the HBAI survey you have used including: coverage; purpose; sample size and methodology.
A descriiption of the poverty measures you are using, including their strengths and limitations. Provide summary information on the variable/s that make up
your measure.
Results (1,000 words) [25 marks]
Produce appropriate descriiptive statistics that might include, for example: mean, median, frequencies or proportions, crosstabulations, comparison of
means etc. You will need to decide which measures are appropriate and useful to report.
Compare and contrast the findings from the two poverty measures; how do they differ?, why?, what is it about the measure of poverty that leads to different
results? Explore this further with the data.
Use charts and/or tables to display your results where possible. Note that Tables/charts must be numbered. Only include those that you discuss/refer to.
Including extraneous tables/charts is a sign of a poor assignment and will result in mark deduction. You may paste tables/charts directly from SPSS, or edit
them (e.g. in Excel) before including them in your report: this editing choice is up to you.
All discussion should be written in full sentences, with any findings described as simply as possible. Neither charts nor tables count towards your total word
length.
Conclusions (500 words) [15 marks]
Outline your most interesting findings. Discuss what, if anything, might you have done differently and how could you develop this analysis in the future.
Discuss what your analysis brings to the existing literature on poverty.
