Example

So You Think You Can Integrate

This standard asks students to integrate different types of research/analysis into a single text. In other words, it’s like having French fries and ranch dressing, takes a minute to get used to it, but then it’s strangely satisfying when you discover a fantastic recipe for analyzing two or more texts. You may have noted the points of quantitative data and qualitative documents. These items are two totally different forms of information; however, they may both still contribute to the same idea.

• Quantitative data specifically refers to information in numbers. The language in the standard gives the exemplar of charts and research; this could also extend to graphs or simply statistical information. Joining together this information with the qualitative data is fairly simple when you consider that this kind of information generally serves as support for the richer information you receive from the second kind of data.

• Qualitative data is information from an expert source on a subject. This information is usually in the form of a description or analysis of a subject that can’t necessarily be expressed in numbers.

• Texts that are able to integrate these two types of information, or use one type to support the other, are generally more complete and convincing.

Drill

Read the article regarding Organized Crime in America (from Standard 5), and analyze the following graphs. Answer the questions by integrating information from all documents. 

Document 1

From The Godfather to The Sopranos to the still airing Boardwalk Empire, America is obsessed with its own historical mishaps and failures in regards to organized crime. Some even idolize the crime organizations as noble or heroic, with the police force of the time period being the bad guys. Even Bugs Bunny has found himself in the company of mobsters and crime bosses. American mobs have been a major part of its history and continue to be a resource-sucking machine today. Everything from man-power, to money for fire-arms, to stagnant legislation have been invested and reallocated to fight the ongoing battle. The beginnings of America’s domestic conflict can be traced to the Prohibition era; however, this ninety-year-irk continues to draw the attention of modern federal police.

Many events led to the banning of alcohol on a federal level. Religious revivals and state-to-state movements against drunkenness were building, with advertisements and propaganda citing alcohol as the marriage killer and the cause of poverty by such groups as the Anti-Saloon League of the early 1900’s¹. It may be concluded that Americans of this time period would first “make thieves and then punish them²,” (Moore, 1901) as they continually campaigned for the prohibition of alcohol, which after achieved, caused a dramatic increase in domestic crime. This is where the iconic figures such as Al Capone and Bugsy Siegel became wealthy, boot-legging entrepreneurs, taking advantage of the coveted items in even higher demand because of its restriction, such as gambling, alcohol, and prostitution3. Thus the organized business of criminal commodities came to America.

As time progressed so too did the Mob, expanding and continuing to carry out business as usual. With the millions gained from the bootlegging of newly illicit goods, the gangsters set their sights on infiltrating legitimate business ventures, such as the construction industry, while still keeping true to the illegal substance trafficking. By the 1950’s the Mob was ingrained in American culture; even celebrities such as Frank Sinatra were rumored to have associations with them. The arms of the Mafia reached so far that, “by the mid-20th century, there were 24 known crime families in America, comprised of an estimated 5,000 full-fledged members and thousands of associates across the country⁴.” It seemed as though there was no stopping the crime-based, money making machine.

Today organized crime is not a romanticized past event, it is a real entity, though the faces may have changed dramatically from its fedora wearing ancestors. The crime family regimes of America are no longer major players in the organized crime game, with the FBI claiming Mafia problems of the past were small potatoes compared to the global threats that America faces today. The New York Times printed a laundry list of known criminal organizations and affiliated countries that the American FBI has stakes in, proving this is no invention of Hollywood (Organized Crime, 2012). It seems a constant threat on the red, white, and blue doorstep, a far more menacing and exponentially more profitable venture than it was once known to be.

_{1. The Saloon Must Go (2012). Westerville Public Library. Retrieved March 13, 2012, from http://www.wpl.lib.oh.us/AntiSaloon/history/}

_{2. Moore, Thomas (1901). Utopia. OregonState University. Retrieved March 13, 2012, from http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/more/utopia-I.html}

_{3. Prohibition (2012). The History Channel Website. Retrieved March 12, 2012, from http://www.history.com/topics/prohibition}

_{4. Mafia in the United States. (2012). The History Channel website. Retrieved March 12, 2012, from http://www.history.com/topics/mafia-in-the-united-states}

Document 2

Document 3
1. Choose the statement that best explains the information presented in documents two and three. [Easy]

a) Documents two and three display increasing trends in crime related to alcohol consumption over the course of approximately three decades.
b) Documents two and three display decreasing trends in crime related to alcohol consumption over the course of approximately three decades.
c) Documents two and three explain the result of police forces focusing their attention towards other affairs.
d) Documents two and three show that the Roaring Twenties weren’t so roaring as the thirties. 

The correct answer is (a). The documents show that alcohol-related murders increased by just over 100 people per 100,000 and the percentage of crimes nearly doubled in this period. Option (b) is the opposite of the right answer, option (c) is an inference that cannot be clearly justified with only these two docs, and option (d) was just for giggles. 

2. Which quote from document one is most applicable to document three? [Medium]

a) “It may be concluded that Americans of this time period would first ‘make thieves and then punish themⁱ,’ (Moore, 1901) as they continually campaigned for the prohibition of alcohol, which after achieved in 1918, caused a dramatic increase in domestic crime.”
b) “This is where the iconic figures such as Al Capone and Bugsy Siegel became wealthy, boot-legging entrepreneurs, taking advantage of the coveted items in even higher demand because of their restriction, such as gambling, alcohol, and prostitution.”
c) “With the millions gained from the bootlegging of newly illicit goods, the gangsters set their sights on infiltrating legitimate business ventures such as the construction industry, while still keeping true to the illegal substance trafficking.”
d) All of the above.

The correct answer is (a). This answer holds the most applicable statement as it directly relates to the specific data presented, crimes related to alcohol. Option (b) encompasses crimes involving other restricted practices (gambling and prostitution) which aren’t necessarily related to alcohol. Option (c) would be post-prohibition time period in the context of the article, and therefore would not be applicable. Option (d) is obviously not helpful either; don’t just go for this answer because it is there, sometimes it isn’t right… clearly. 

3. Which graph offers the best support for the following quote from document one: “American mobs have been a major part of its history and continue to be a resource-sucking machine today. Everything from manpower, to money for firearms, to stagnant legislation have been invested and reallocated to fight the ongoing battle.” [Easy]

a) Document two only
b) Document three only
c) Both documents two and three
d) Neither documents two nor three

The correct answer is (c). Both documents may be related to organized crime activity in the United States… that’s why they are presented in the same drill. However, if writing a response it would not be sufficient to just say, well they support it… you must connect the documents for your reader. 

4. Short Response: Using direct citations from document one, integrate the data from document two to support the essential claim in document one. This answer should be no shorter than one paragraph, no longer than two. [Medium]

5. Extended Response: Integrate the information in all three documents to support the following claim: Criminal activity saw an increase during and after the prohibition period of America, mostly due to the rise of the American Mob and despite the best hopes of temperate religious groups. [Hard]