NAME: Simpson Stand Ground 2015 TYPE: Census (mostly) SIZE: 220 observations, 4 variables DESCRIPTIVE ABSTRACT: The Tampa Bay Times created a webpage on which they presented data on criminal cases in Florida in which the defendant use Florida’s Stand Your Ground law as part of their defense. The race of the victim and of the defendant are recorded, along with the outcome (conviction or acquittal). SOURCE: http://www.tampabay.com/stand-your-ground-law/data VARIABLE DESCRIPTIONS: Column Variable 1 Convicted? Yes or No 2 Race of the defendant (Accused) White or Minority 3 Was the victim white? 1 = white victim, 0 = minority victim 4 Was the victim a minority? 1 = minority victim, 0 = white victim NOTE: The website gives three races: white, black, and Hispanic. In the data file “minority” means black or Hispanic. Also, the website classifies cases as fatal or nonfatal; the data file includes all fatal and nonfatal cases for which full information was available. The website includes a note that the data are incomplete (but are the most comprehensive list in the state.) The data cover 2005 through early 2013 (at which point the newspaper stopped updating the website). PEDAGOGICAL NOTES: These data can be used to illustrate Simpson’s Paradox: Ignoring the race of the victim gives a higher conviction rate for white than for minority defendants. Controlling for victim’s race reverses this inequality. One could also use these data when teaching logistic regression. SUBMITTED BY: Jeff Witmer Department of Mathematics Oberlin College Oberlin, OH 44074 jeff.witmer@oberlin.edu