Case Study 014. Exploratory Data Analysis: Pre-Work

Exploratory Data Analysis: Work Process Pre-Work

Pre-Work

In this exploratory data analysis I explored a dataset of information on public schools in the United States. The underlying data was made freely available to the public and I obtained it from the U.S. Department of Education website.

Case Study 014. Exploratory Data Analysis: Step 1

Exploratory Data Analysis: Work Process Step 1 of 5

Step 1 - Prepare the Workspace

Since I was working with a fairly large dataset, I decided that Python was the best tool to use to analyze it. I used a Jupyter Notebook to run my code.

Case Study 014. Exploratory Data Analysis: Step 2

Exploratory Data Analysis: Work Process Step 2 of 5

Step 2 - Describe the Characteristics of the Dataset

First, I wanted to wrap my head around the dataset by finding out exactly what size it was and specifically what kind of information (variables) it contained.

Case Study 014. Exploratory Data Analysis: Step 3

Exploratory Data Analysis: Work Process Step 1 of 5

Step 3 - Summarize the Dataset

Next, I did some basic calculations to produce a set of summary statistics.

Case Study 014. Exploratory Data Analysis: Step 4

Exploratory Data Analysis: Work Process Step 4 of 5

Step 4 - Visualize the Dataset

Then, I made a number of visualizations that helped me to better understand what the data was saying.

Case Study 014. Exploratory Data Analysis: Step 5

Exploratory Data Analysis: Work Process Step 5 of 5

Step 5 - Identify Insights

Finally, I could draw some insights from the dataset. Here are the main takeaways:

• The dataset consists of 51 rows and 42 columns

• The dataset consists of:

  • student enrollment

  • school staffing

  • student demographic information

• There are 51 rows and 42 columns in the dataset. None of the rows are blank.

• The dataset contains totals per state of the number of students in (2) gender categories and (7) race/ethnicity categories.

• 2018-19 US public school total enrollments by demographic group are as follows:

  • 25.8 million male students

  • 24.4 million female students

  • 473K American Indian/Alaska Native students

  • 2.6 million Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander students

  • 13.7 million Hispanic students

  • 7.6 million Black students

  • 23.7 million White students

  • 176K Hawaiian Nat./Pacific Isl. students

  • 2 million multiracial students

• The states with the highest number of Black public school students are: Florida, Georgia and Texas

• The states with the highest number of Hispanic public school students are: California and Texas

• The state with the highest number of Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander public school students is California. New York and Texas are a distant second and third.

• The states with the highest number of American Indian/Alaska Native public school students by far is Oklahoma

• The state with the highest number of Hawaiian/Pacific Islander public school students by far is Hawaii

• The states with the highest number of White public school students are: California and Texas