1. What dataset will you use for your final report?
For my final report, I will be using the dataset on police-reported hate crimes in Canada by type of motivation. I chose this dataset due to its relevance to current issues and concerns surrounding hate groups such as the Proud Boys following the insurrection in DC.
2. What kind of data does it contain?
This dataset contains data on the number of hate crimes reported from 2014 to 2019, including those motivated by race, religion, sexual orientation, sex, disability, age, and other/unknown motivations. Further filtering reveals what specific groups within those categories reported being the victims of hate crimes during this period.
3. Is there anything about your data that you don’t understand?
This dataset does not seem to elaborate on where in Canada saw significant increases in hate crimes; however, another dataset reports on the number of incidents and rate of hate crimes per 100,000 people in different metropolitan areas throughout Canada, which I hope will complement this dataset well. The dataset also does not discuss population growth or changes in societal and cultural ideals during this five-year period, meaning additional research into those aspects will be required.
4. What are some questions you hope to answer with your data?
There are three big questions I hope to answer with my data. The first is to determine what percentage have reported hate crimes increased during this five-year period. The second is determining what groups saw the biggest increase in reported hate crimes during this period and by what percentage. The third and final question I hope to answer is what groups, if any, saw a decrease in hate crimes during this period and by what percentage.
