Document Type
Poster Presentation
Publication Date
3-26-2019
Abstract
Since the 1800s researchers have been trying to connect possible relationships between temperature and crime rate. Multiple researchers have come up with different theories and explanations why crime increases in the summer versus the winter. This experiment is intended to see if local temperatures can impact crime rates. Crime rates in Virginia were used to test for a difference in crime rates in cold years and hot years. The coldest years (2015-2017) and the hottest years (2010-2012) were compared. In addition, another test was completed to test for a difference between summer and winter crime rates. The temperature data was collected from NOAA National Center for Environmental Information and the crime data was found from the Uniform Crime Reporting Section Department of State Police. The hypothesis for this experiment is that more crimes would be committed in higher temperatures. To test whether this hypothesis would be supported, a clustered column chart and a t-test were used to see if there was a difference between the crime rates at different temperatures. The hypothesis was not supported because there was no significant difference between crime rates in hotter years versus colder years. However, the difference in crime rates between summer and winter was significant, indicating temperature is what is causing a higher number of crime rates, the experiment did also show though that crime is higher in the summer than winter.
Publisher
Lynn University
Conference/Symposium
Lynn University Student Research Symposium
Contest
Poster Presentation
City/State
Boca Raton, FL
Department
College of Arts and Sciences
Recommended Citation
Myers, A., & Lecher, A. L. (2019, March 26). Exploring how temperatures impact crime rates in Virginia. Poster presented at the College of Arts and Sciences Student Symposium, Lynn University, Boca Raton, FL.
Comments
Poster presented at the College of Arts and Sciences Student Symposium, Lynn University, Boca Raton, FL.