Monitoring Volatile Homicide Trends Across U.S. Cities

33 Pages Posted: 1 Jun 2017 Last revised: 16 Aug 2017

See all articles by Andrew Wheeler

Andrew Wheeler

University of Texas at Dallas - School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences

Tomislav Victor Kovandzic

University of Alabama at Birmingham - Department of Justice Sciences

Date Written: May 30, 2017

Abstract

The recent increase in the national homicide rate in the United States has generated much speculation about its causes among the media. In this article we show how two data visualization tools, funnel charts and time series fan charts, can show the typical volatility in homicide rates in different cities over time. Many of the recent increases are not out of the norm given historical patterns, and so one need not rely on various ex-ante hypotheses to explain recent homicide spikes occurring in some U.S. cities.

Keywords: Data-Visualization, Funnel-Charts, Fan-Charts, Homicide-Rates, Time-Series

Suggested Citation

Wheeler, Andrew and Kovandzic, Tomislav Victor, Monitoring Volatile Homicide Trends Across U.S. Cities (May 30, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2977556 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2977556

Andrew Wheeler (Contact Author)

University of Texas at Dallas - School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences ( email )

P.O. Box 830688, GR 31
Richardson, TX 75083
United States

Tomislav Victor Kovandzic

University of Alabama at Birmingham - Department of Justice Sciences ( email )

OB15 101
1530 3rd Avenue South
Birmingham, AL 35294
United States
205-934-0668 (Phone)
205-934-2067 (Fax)

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