The Independent Study Part 1

Ministry Expectation Learning through application By the end of this course, students will analyze appropriate statistical indicators (e.g., those relating to population, culture, resources, technology, military expenditure, literacy, medical care) to assess the quality of life in a variety of developed and developing countries in different parts of the world

The United Nations Human Development Index (HDI) is a measure of the quality of life in a country based on a wide range of demographic, political, environmental, and economic indicators. Quality of life is commonly described as... “…the degree of well-being felt by a person or a group of persons. There are no universally accepted objective measures of quality of life, and the best that can be done is to assume there are certain things that most people need or want, and then use the degree to which people have gained these things as an indicator of the quality of their lives.” (Molyneux & MacKenzie, 1994, p. 122)

Your task is to work with a partner (or individually) in order to develop your own HDI formula and use it to rank the 30 countries from the list. You may use 2 indicators from the PRB.org data given to you at the start of the semester. However, you must then research to find 3 more indicators which will help in describing the quality of life in the countries on the list (demographic, political, environmental, economic, education, health, human rights, shelter, are all potential indicator categories).

Your report (the rubric is shown below) will be 600 to 900 words (2 – 3 pages) in length. In your report you must; 1-define and describe each indicator, 2-explain why the indicator is a good measure of an aspect of quality of life, 3-explain why you have assigned the weighting as described in your HDI equation, and 4-include a ranked list of the countries in order from the country with the best score for your HDI to the country with the worst score (include all your calculations).

Introduction  Identify and define the topic  Explain the significance  Outline the points for discussion /3 Body Paragraphs Not in evidence Faintly in evidence In evidence Considerably in evidence Highly in evidence Writing is clear, correct, and organized /10 Logical reasons for indicators chosen are fully explained /10 Indicators explore 5 different areas of quality of life /10 Index number weighting is explained and formula is applied correctly /10 Spelling8 errors6 errors4 errors2 errors0 errors / Grammar8 errors6 errors4 errors2 errors0 errors / Conclusion  Summarize the choice of each indicator /2 Tex t mark /55 Number of sources1 sources2 sources3 sources4 sources5 sources / Use of citations1 source cited 2 sources cited 3 sources cite 4 sources cited 5 sources cited / Structure: alpha by author date of publication structure matches source publisher variety of sources few elements some elements many elements most elements all elements / Mark /15

Algonquin College Plagiarism Plagiarism, whether done deliberately or accidentally, is defined as presenting someone else’s work, in whole or in part, as one’s own. It includes the verbal or written submission of another work without crediting that source. This applies to ideas, wording, code, graphics, music, and inventions. It includes all electronic sources, including the Internet, television, video, film, and recordings, all print and written sources, such as books, periodicals, lyrics, government publications, promotional materials, and academic assignments; and all verbal sources such as conversations and interviews. Sharing one’s work with other students is also considered an act of plagiarism. Response to Acts of Plagiarism 1. The College insists on academic integrity and shall act on all reported incidents of plagiarism, whether deliberate or accidental. 2. Students who commit plagiarism will be subject to disciplinary action. Disciplinary action will take the form of an academic sanction(s) and will reflect the severity of the offense committed. 3. Each student with an specific role in a group assignment will be held responsible for the academic integrity of the work submitted. Plagiarism on the part of one or more of the group members may affect the group evaluation, at the discretion of the professor. 4. Academic sanctions are assigned according to the nature and extent of the act of academic dishonesty. A repeated act of plagiarism will result in harsher sanctions. Academic sanctions may include one or more of the following: 1.requirement that the student complete the course on academic integrity; 2.requirement that the student resubmit the assignment; 3.requirement that the student submit additional work; 4.reduction of the weight for the assignment towards the overall course grade; 5.assigning the grade of zero for the assignment; 6.assigning the grade of F for the course; 7.suspension from the Program; 8.suspension from the College. 5. The Academic Administrator will oversee the application of the sanctions concerning plagiarism and will maintain a confidential list of students who have committed plagiarism and the sanctions imposed. 6. Each School will maintain a complete list of students who have committed plagiarism for all its departments. 7. Any academic sanction imposed as a result of plagiarism is to be kept electronically on the student’s file on the Student Information System. Records will be held intact for one year following the student’s last academic activity. 8. Students can appeal a charge of plagiarism and/or the sanctions under the Policy AA 19 Academic Appeal. Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology. (2011). Directives and Policies: AA20: Plagiarism. Retrieved 21 November, 2011 from

Queen’s University Faculty of Law Plagiarism Presenting another’s ideas or phrasings as one’s own without proper acknowledgement. Examples: copying and pasting from the internet, a printed source, or other resource without proper acknowledgement; copying from another student; using direct quotations or large sections of paraphrased material in an assignment without appropriate acknowledgement; submitting the same piece of work in more than one course without the permission of the instructor(s). 2.4 Sanctions The following are the admissible sanctions that may be applied, in any number and/or combination as deemed necessary, for departures from academic integrity: 1. Issuing an oral or written warning. 2. Completion of an educational program/workshop 3. Requiring submission of a revised or new piece of work. 4. Assigning a partial or total loss of marks on the piece of work. 5. Assigning partial or total loss of grades in the course. 6. Requiring withdrawal from the University for a specified period of time. 7. Rescinding of a degree. If the penalty amounts to a failure in the course, the student may not drop the course, regardless of the deadlines to drop a course Instructors may impose Sanctions 1 through 5, without referring the matter to the Faculty/School (apart from checking re previous findings, see 2.3; and 4.1.5). All findings must be reported to the Faculty/School. If the instructor believes a more serious penalty is warranted, or there is a previous finding, he or she must refer the matter, including their finding, for sanctioning to the Faculty/School office A Faculty/School may impose Sanctions 1 through 5, as available to instructors, as well as: Recommending Sanctions 6 or 7 to the Senate Committee on Academic Procedures (SCAP) Senate (through SCAP, to which it has delegated this responsibility), in accordance with the Senate Policy on Student Appeals, Rights and Discipline, may approve the recommendations of Faculties/Schools with respect to Sanctions 6 and 7. Queen’s University. (2011). Faculty of Law Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty Regulations. Retrieved 21 November, 2011 from

A sample paragraph explaining 1 HDI indicator Watchamacallit as a HDI indicator The first indicator selected for use in the HDI is watchamacallit which can be defined as the “blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah” (Jones). Watchamacallit was chosen as an important indicator since it captures so many of the aspects of quality of life in a country. Some of these aspects include; the level of education of the population which provides the knowledge to lengthen life, economic earning power which allows the individual access to food and shelter, and access to health care which permits the individual to avoid and/or survive disease (UNHCR). Since watchamacallit is such a wide ranging measure of quality of life it has been assigned a weighting of 0.30 in the HDI. Works Cited Jones, Mark. Population and the growth of cities online. 7 October 2012 UNHCR. The Darfur Crisis online. 5 October 2012.