Extended Essay: An Investigation Into the Differences In Life Expectancy For Males and Females In two Different Time Periods, 1900-1920 and 1980-2000.

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An Investigation Into the Differences In Life Expectancy For Males and Females In two Different Time Periods, 1900-1920 and 1980-2000.

Introduction

My interest in human biology and my desire to later develop a career in the medical research industry with the hopes of being able to improve the quality of life and life expectancy the lives of people worldwide led me to look into the possibility of a research question that would allow me to investigate the impact of medical developments on the population. As life expectancy has been greatly influenced by all the medical developments that have occurred over time, this seemed to be a relevant focus for my research question.

Aim

To investigate the differences in life expectancy between males and females between 1900-1920 and 1980-2000, with data collected from a cemetery in Twickenham, a London suburb in the UK.

Prediction

The average life expectancy for both males and females in 1900 and 1920 will be lower than the average life expectancy for both males and females between 1980 and 2000.

The average life expectancy for females will also be lower than that for males in both time frames.

Science Reasoning

Between 1900 and 2000, there have been many major advances in medical research, which have increased the life expectancy of world populations. Examples of such research are the discoveries of vaccines. A vaccine is a substance which contains a modified form of a pathogen that has been killed or weakened, or chemicals produced by the pathogen, which are used to trigger the immune response of the human body. Vaccines are used in order to gain artificial immunity from the diseases caused by the organisms in the vaccine without the person who receives the vaccine developing the full blown symptoms of the disease. Diseases such as tuberculosis and influenza caused a large number of deaths in Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries, but through the use of vaccines the number of deaths has been significantly reduced. A number of vaccines were developed between 1900 and 2000. For example the first vaccine for Diphtheria was developed in 1923, which was closely followed by the discovery of a vaccine for pertussis (more commonly known as whooping cough) in 1926. These discoveries were later followed by the development of vaccines for Tuberculosis and Tetanus in 1927, influenza in 1945, [1] Poliomyelitis in 1955, [2] Pneumonia in 1977, and meningitis in 1978. [1] Through the use of intense immunisation programmes instigated by the World Health organisation, Smallpox, which killed an estimated 300 million people worldwide in the 20th century alone, was declared to have been eradicated worldwide in by the WHO in 1980. [3]
The discovery of Penicillin as an antibiotic may also have had an effect on life expectancy. Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928,
 [1] and developed as an antibiotic by Howard Florey and Ernest Chain in 1940.[4] Penicillin can be used to fight infections caused by Staphylococcus and Pneumococcus bacteria which can cause fatal diseases such as pneumonia and Toxic Shock Syndrome. Another antibiotic, streptomycin was developed by Selman A. Waksman in 1943 is effective against a number of different bacteria including strains which are resistant to Penicillin, and is often used (in conjunction with other antibiotics) to treat tuberculosis amongst other potentially fatal diseases[5]. Protonsil, developed by Gerhard Domagk in 1932, is another antibiotic developed in the 1900s which may have affected life expectancy, as it was discovered that this antibiotic can protect against lethal doses of staphylococci and streptococci bacteria. [6] 

Analysis of Variables

Independent Variables: Time period in which death occurred

                              Gender

Dependent Variable: Life Expectancy

Control Variable: Geographical location from which data will be collected.

Method

I have obtained permission from Richmond Council to visit Twickenham Cemetery in order to collect data for this extended essay. I will visit Twickenham Cemetery and collect data showing the year of death, the age of the person at the time of their death, and the sex of the person, for two different time frames. The first will be 1900-1920 and the second will be 1980-2000. I will collect this data using random sampling, to ensure that I obtain results which give a fair representation of the population and every single data point has an equal chance of appearing in my sample. Ordinarily I would carry out a random sample using the following method:

  1. Mark out a 40m2 area using two tape measures
  2. Starting with 0, write each 0.5m interval on two beans, one for each 0.5m interval on each tape measure.
  3. Put all the beans in a bag and draw out two at random. This will give a coordinate, for example (10.5, 7.0).
  4. Go to this coordinate and record the data from the gravestone at this point.
  5. Repeat this process until all the required data points have been obtained.

However, as I am collecting my sample in a cemetery, this method would be unrealistic, as this method would require me to lay out tape measures around the gravestones, and possibly walk over gravestones in order to reach the desired coordinate. This is disrespectful, not only to the memories of the deceased, but also to the people visiting the graveyard to remember the lives of those who died.

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As a result, I will use the following method which is much less intrusive, therefore ensuring that the best interests of everyone involved are respected:

  1. I will identify the areas of the cemetery which contain gravestones from the time periods I am interested in.
  2. I will walk along the paths which surround these areas and will record data from every other gravestone which is situated next to the path.


Results

Summary Table


Data Analysis
I am going to use a ...

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