Sociology 3900 Quantitative Research and Writing

January 20, 2021

This is a formal memo assignment, so you should direct your expert knowledge and analyses to the Board. Your memo should begin with the following information:

To: County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors

From: Name of Consultant

Date:

Re:

MEMORANDUM #1: COVID-19 Counts and Rates in Los Angeles County
Sociology 3900/Quantitative Research & Writing/Fall 2020
Instructor: Dr. William
Canvas Upload Due Date: December 17, 2020 at 6:00 p.m.
Dear Students,
I would like you to draw on readings, lectures, and/or class discussions and address the following
memo assignment in 6-7 typed, double-spaced pages, with 1-inch margins all around.
Assignment: The County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors (“Board”) just hired you as an
independent analyst to analyze existing COVID-109 trends in LA County. The Board would like to
hear your understanding of the developing research on COVID-19. Further, the Board requests a
preliminary data analysis on COVID-19 counts and rates in LA County. Specifically, the Board would
like you to address the following, as follows:
1. The Board recognizes that science is happening as we speak on what we know and don’t know
about the COVID-19 pandemic. Having reviewed the literature, the Board would like you to
share with them what you’ve learned about COVID-19.
2. The Board would also like a preliminary analysis of the data trends in LA County. Specifically,
they would like you to highlight the numbers and rates for 9 areas of LA and compare them with
the numbers and rates for LA County. Specifically, the Board would like an analysis of the
following: cases, case rate, deaths, death rate, testing, test rates, positive test cases, and positivity
test rates. The Board would like to observe geographic diversity in the areas you choose for the
analysis, but they trust your judgment to provide a cogent and superior analysis.
3. Extra Credit Option (5-6 points) The Board would also like you to examine the mean, mode, and
median of cases, deaths, testing, and positive test cases for City of LA, Unincorporated Areas,
and Incorporated Non-LA Cities and analyze the observed differences.
This is a formal memo assignment, so you should direct your expert knowledge and analyses to the
Board. Your memo should begin with the following information:
To: County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors
From: Name of Consultant
Date:
Re:
Your memo should be clearly written and without any use of jargon to convey your ideas and your
assessment. Your memo should also include subheadings and be well-organized so that the Board
can readily get to your analyses and understand the nuance of the data you are you using. Also, be sure
to parenthetically cite to your sources in case the Board’s staff needs to review the materials you
used to support your memo. Your literature review needs to include at least 5-6 peer-review articles
and or research articles published by a reliable source, such as the CDC or a research university.
Please only use relevant and insightful articles that will help your analysis. Also, be sure to include a
reference page and use the proper ASA format for your citations.
Your work product should be clear, organized, coherent, original, and should integrate the materials.
Good luck!!!