Often, aggregate data like that in your Case Study enable you, the researcher, to spot problems. Were you surprised at the level of infant mortality in the United States compared to that of other nations?

Finer detail, like that found in this Internet Project, can help you to better understand the problem. You may be more surprised, and come to a deeper understanding of the problem, when you see the infant mortality rate for the US arranged by the race of the mother, or by socioeconomic class.

This internet project enables you to look at several facets of the problem: the human as well as the political. You will see several tables and charts showing the data in different ways. And you will be asked to create some of your own charts, and especially to think critically about the problem. In the project, you will develop your own analytical view of infant mortality, both as a fact in its own right, and as an indicator of health and social structure.

A reasonable question to begin with is "what is the cause of infant mortality?" This chart shows the Ten Leading Causes of Infant Mortality in the United States.
Do these causes give you clues as to what other types of information we should look for in our study of infant mortality over time and across cultural boundaries?

Infant mortality is about more than tables of numbers--it's about children dying. This emotionally charged aspect is brought out in the following article that appeared in Forbes Magazine, called " The Lost Children." The front page of the article contains a link showing a chart of infant mortality in the U.S. over time.

Of course, what affects a nation's people affects the nation. These numbers are political. The following quote from the Agency for International Development relates the health of a nation to the rate of infant mortality. The measure of infant mortality is one of the ways we can measure the strength of a country. Infant mortality is as important a measure as the strength of a state's democratic institutions and the health of its markets:

There is a strong correlation between a state's vulnerability to collapse and three indicators, which prove the need for the international community to make available development assistance:

1. High infant mortality rates
2. Closed markets and restricted trade
3. Fragile democratic institutions

The importance of the mortality rate as a political measure is also pointed up in the news. The following article relates that the U.S. government was once accused of covering up data on infant mortality: U.S. says infant mortality report wasn't squelched

Infant mortality is obviously an emotional subject that touches our lives as social and political beings. In the Data Views section, try to keep in mind the human perspective as you look at the charts and graphics. Think of what the charts are showing....we are trying to get different perspectives on the problem, but should never lose sight of the human perspective.