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  3. Analyzing US Census Data in Python

Exercise

Calculating D for One State

In this exercise you will compute the Index of Dissimilarity for the state of Georgia. Remember that the formula for the Index of Dissimilarity is:

$$D = \frac{1}{2}\sum{\left\lvert \frac{a}{A} - \frac{b}{B} \right\rvert}$$

In this case, Group A will be Whites, Group B will be Blacks. \(a\) and \(b\) represent the White and Black population of the small geography (tracts), while \(A\) and \(B\) represent the White and Black population of the larger, containing geography (Georgia, postal code = GA, FIPS code = 13).

pandas has been imported using the usual alias, and the tracts DataFrame with population columns "white" and "black" has been loaded.

Instructions

100 XP
  • Create the new DataFrame ga_tracts with only the tracts in Georgia ("state" column should equal FIPS code "13")
  • Provide the column names in a list (use the variables w and b) to print the sum of Nonhispanic Whites and Blacks in Georgia
  • Take the White population of each tract divided by the sum of the White population, and subtract the Black population of each tract divided by the sum of the Black population; use the w and b variables to improve code readability