LAB-04

[sunaynagoel]

Hello, I am sure this was mentioned somewhere, but I am not able to find the detail anymore.

I have .rds for data dictionary. Should I save all other data files from the raw data folder in .rds form as well, to work on the next steps?

~Nina

[sunaynagoel]

Hello, I am sure this was mentioned somewhere, but I am not able to find the detail anymore.

I have .rds for data dictionary. Should I save all other data files from the raw data folder in .rds form as well, to work on the next steps?

~Nina

@cenuno Thank you.

[cenuno]

This step to produce yearly, clean data in .rds file format is documented within the Lab 03 tutorial, here in the "Project Data Steps" tutorial.

[lecy]

If you need to access the data files they are located in the labs folder on the course website:

https://github.com/DS4PS/cpp-528-spr-2020/tree/master/labs/data

There is a raw and rodeo folder that correspond with the read and write steps of the Data Steps tutorial.

[castower]

Thanks @lecy

[sunaynagoel]

If you need to access the data files they are located in the labs folder on the course website:

https://github.com/DS4PS/cpp-528-spr-2020/tree/master/labs/data

There is a raw and rodeo folder that correspond with the read and write steps of the Data Steps tutorial.

@lecy, Thank you

[sunaynagoel]

Adjustment in home values related to inflation.

I noticed that 2000's home value is multiplied by 1.28855 for adjusting inflation with year 2010. I tried to look up inflation rates and could find that number ? where do I look up what rate I should I be using for adjusting 1990's home value for inflation.

[lecy]

You can google "inflation calculator" and you will find a bunch of sites that give you the conversion. Just select 2010 as the final year, your input year, and use $1 as the starting value.

https://westegg.com/inflation/

You will get slightly different results by site.

Otherwise, you can always estimate it if you know the average long-term inflation rate. Since 2000 the rate has averaged about 2.5% in the US, so you can use:

# 10 year inflation factor
(1.025)^10
[1] 1.280085

Prior to 2000 the rates were higher and they fluctuated quite a bit through the 70's and 80's so if you are going back in time further it is better to use a calculator.

[sunaynagoel]

You can google "inflation calculator" and you will find a bunch of sites that give you the conversion. Just select 2010 as the final year, your input year, and use $1 as the starting value.

https://westegg.com/inflation/

You will get slightly different results by site.

Otherwise, you can always estimate it if you know the average long-term inflation rate. Since 2000 the rate has averaged about 2.5% in the US, so you can use:

# 10 year inflation factor
(1.025)^10
[1] 1.280085

Prior to 2000 the rates were higher and they fluctuated quite a bit through the 70's and 80's so if you are going back in time further it is better to use a calculator.

Thanks @lecy

[sunaynagoel]

I am not sure I understand the following question. This is in PART 01 of the LAB.

Q. What do the authors suggest would predict fall in central city home values between 1990 and 2000?

[lecy]

The article is about the loss of population, but less people means less demand for homes. As demand decreases prices will also fall. So the two - loss of population and decline in home value - are assumed to be concurrent.

The question is asking you to parse the paragraph to see if you can identify variables that would predict fall in home values from 1980 to 2000. The question says 1990 to 2000 because that is the period I asked to you to analyze in the lab, but the paper covers 1980 to 2000.

Based upon the following paragraph, which census variables should predict a decline in home values from 1990 to 2000?

Similar to the gentrification question, how would you operationalize the period of "white flight" using census data where central neighborhoods lost large numbers of residents?

“Neighborhoods within 2 km of most central business districts of U.S. metropolitan areas experienced population declines from 1980 to 2000 but have rebounded markedly since 2000 at greater pace than would be expected from simple mean reversion. Statistical decompositions reveal that 1980-2000 departures of residents without a college degree (of all races) generated most of the declines while the return of college educated whites and the stabilization of neighborhood choices by less educated whites promoted most of the post-2000 rebound. The rise of childless households and the increase in the share of the population with a college degree, conditional on race, also promoted 1980-2010 increases in central area population and educational composition of residents, respectively. Estimation of a neighborhood choice model shows that changes in choices to live in central neighborhoods primarily reflect a shifting balance between rising home prices and valuations of local amenities, though 1980-2000 central area population declines also reflect deteriorating nearby labor market opportunities for low skilled whites.”

[castower]

Is anyone else finding that most of their data on home values is actually decreasing from 1990 to 2000? I'm assuming this is because of the recession and houses were then increasing again for the 2000 to 2010 data, but with that reasoning, I somewhat expected to see the opposite (houses would fall from 2000 to 2010 due to the recession and increase from 1990 to 2000 due to the inflation that led to the housing bubble burst) so just want to check that I'm not doing something way off here.