ASHLEY VASCIK: Welcome back.
My name is still Ashley Vascik, And I still
teach at Boonsboro High School in rural western Maryland.
This section is going to focus on the quantitative analysis
FRQ.
Like the other three FRQs, it's worth 12.5% of your total FRQ
portion grade, and it's worth 4 points.
This is also one of my favorite FRQs
because you get to sing a little song to remember
what you have to do.
But we'll get to that in just a second.
All right, let's go over some general tips.
First of all, it's important to note that with this FRQ,
it is a chart data, bar graph, whatever it may be, skill read.
So part A is always going to ask you
to use some kind of skill reading the data that you've
been given.
So that's where my little song comes in, data, data, data,
remember to cite the data.
Now, the data might be in a bar graph, a line graph, a pie
chart.
It might just be a table.
The one we're going to look at today
is actually a map so the most important thing for you
to do in part A is cite the data and you
need to cite the specific data.
And when I say specific data, in our example today,
it's going to be a state name but it's usually
like a percentage or a date or some kind
of numeric number or a year.
Anything very specific that lets the reader
know that you can read and interpret the non-text that's
given to you.
Point B or part B is going to generally ask
you to identify a pattern or a trend.
So it's important that we can recognize the difference.
A trend generally refers to a direction over time
while a pattern refers to a repeating observation.
So make sure when you're reading part B,
you know whether or not they're asking
for a trend or a pattern.
It's also usually necessary and a really good idea
to cite the data in your part B response as well.
It's almost kind of hard not to do that.
But when in doubt on this FRQ, whenever and wherever
you can cite specific data, you should definitely do it.
All right, so point C. One of the most important things
you can do for part C is check the prompt because a lot
of times, your part C is going to be directly connected
to your part B. We're going to see this in the sample
we're going to look at today in particular.
So usually, part B is going to ask
you to describe that trend or that pattern,
and then part C is going to ask you to do something
based on that trend or pattern that you identified in part B.
So it's going to be really important that you cite
the data again if it's appropriate to do so in part
C and then also that you're referencing whatever that trend
or pattern was in part B if that type of FRQ
is specifically referring back to part B.
And then last but not least in part D,
this is where you're going to have
to expand your knowledge outside the FRQ
or outside the data that's presented
and connect it to course concepts.
Generally speaking, they're going
to ask you to explain something.
They may also ask you to show some relevant information.
All right, so let's take a look at this sample FRQ.
So in this case, we have a map, so we're
going to use this map to answer all parts of the FRQ.
The first thing you want to do with any quantitative analysis
FRQ is look at what you've got.
So we've got a map of the United States.
It does include Alaska and Hawaii.
We have a title that says top state
marginal individual income tax rates for 2018.
We have a legend and we have a bunch of different colorations
across these states.
So as mentioned before, our part A
is going to ask a specific question.
I would also encourage you for the rest of this session
after we go over each part, take a pause,
hit pause on the video, craft your response,
and then restart the video to check your work.
That way, you get a chance to kind of do this FRQ along
with me.
So part A says to identify a state with a state income tax
rate between 2% and 5%.
So in this case, we know our part
A answer is going to have to have a state name, that's
going to be our specific data, and we're
looking for a state that has a tax rate between 2% and 5%.
So if we look at the legend, we can
see that we're looking for kind of that dark but not darkest
gray color.
So if I'm looking at my map, I'm going
to give you some circles here of all the different places where
we're seeing kind of a majority of these states.
So go ahead and pause your video now and craft your response.
All right, so an answer for part A
could be Arizona is a state that has a state income tax
rate between 2% and 5%.
Now, you can see from the circles,
you could have picked any number of states here.
I just happened to pick Arizona.
So there is more than one answer for this part A.
All right, let's move on to part B.
So part B is asking us to describe a pattern.
So remember that a pattern generally
refers to a repeating observation,
different than a trend.
So we're going to look at our map
and we're going to see where might we see some patterns.
So go ahead and pause the video, craft your response,
and then hit Play when you're ready.
OK, so the pattern I decided to look at
was between the Northeast and the Southeast.
Because if you look, you can see a pretty big difference
in the state income tax rates comparatively.
So my answer is, a pattern shown in the map
indicates that states in the Northeastern part of the United
States tend to have higher income taxes than states
in the Southeast.
So that doesn't mean that the entire Northeast is higher
than the entire Southeast is lower,
but we do see a pattern between these two areas of the country.
Again, you may have chosen a different pattern,
this is just the one that I chose based on this data.
All right, let's move on to part C.
So as I mentioned in the general tips,
this is a type of FAQ that is going to connect directly back
to what we just said in part B. So I just
said that the pattern was between the Northeast
and the Southeast, with the Northeast having a higher
state income tax level.
So now I'm going to have to draw a conclusion about how
the ideologies of the political parties shaped the pattern
that I described in part B.
So as a reminder, my two patterns
focus on these two areas of the country.
Also remember, when an FRQ is talking about ideologies,
generally speaking, we want to use words
like liberal and conservative rather
than Republican and Democrat.
You can use both but just remember,
ideologies generally refers to liberal or conservative,
whereas if it said parties and just parties, then
it would refer to Republicans and Democrats.
So go ahead and pause your video, craft your response,
and hit Play when you're ready.
OK, for this one, I'm going to provide you
with two different answers.
One conclusion that can be drawn about the ideologies
of the political parties and the pattern described in part B
is that states with higher income taxes
are likely Democratic states and thus more liberal.
These states are more likely to support
Keynesian economic theory which promotes
economic growth by spending money
on social and other programs.
You could answer part C with just that answer.
Or you could have chosen to answer it this way.
One conclusion that can be drawn about the ideologies
of the political parties and the pattern described in part B
is that states with lower income taxes
are likely Republican states and thus more conservative.
These states are more likely to support supply side
economics, which promotes economic growth through lower
taxes.
So you would not need to answer both of these for part
C. I just gave you one side discussing the liberal states
and one side discussing the conservative states.
So either option would work for part C.
All right, so our final part D is
going to make us connect what we have
seen in the chart, the patterns we've been talking about,
to something else.
In this case, we're going to explain how state income tax
rates, as illustrated on the map,
demonstrates the varied perspectives
on economic policymaking.
So two things of importance here for part D. Number one,
we're focusing on those state income
taxes and how they're different across the country by state.
And then we also have to make some reference
to economic policymaking and how there might
be different perspectives on that throughout the states
and how that might impact what the state income tax rates are.
So go ahead and pause your video, craft your response,
and hit Play when you're ready.
All right, so here's a possible answer for part D.
The state income tax rates, as illustrated on the map,
demonstrate varied perspectives on economic policymaking
because liberals and conservatives
have different viewpoints on how economic policy should be made.
Liberals generally support a Keynesian economic policy
to support growth, which often advocates increased tax
revenues from individuals, while conservatives generally
support a supply side economic policy
to support growth, which often advocates for individual tax
cuts and/or lower tax rates.
So in this one, it's important that you
discuss both sides of the argument
because the question is asking about the varied perspectives.
So it's important that you discuss
those varied perspectives on economic policy making
in your response.
Thank you for watching this session
on the quantitative analysis FRQ.
If you feel like you need additional practice,
I encourage you to visit AP Classroom
and look at the 2022 AP live practice sessions.
Specifically sessions 2 and 6 will
provide more specific practice on the quantitative analysis
FRQ.
Thanks for watching.