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Business Advisory Council Scholars Research Robert Lane Dossett Dr. Edward Nissan, a professor of statistics at The University of Southern Mississippi, mentored my Business Advisory Council (BAC) project. Since his time as a student, Dr. Nissan has expressed his interest in Shannon’s Information Theory. Theil’s Index, a derivative of the Information Theory, was used for my project. The universal characteristics of this index allow it to be tailored to a wide array of data. Being a presidential election year, we thought it useful to analyze the inequality of income versus public assistance, using food stamps as a proxy. Population was used to convert the data into percentages. This analysis divided the United States into nine regions according to the Bureau of the Census. To further enhance the usefulness of the study and to exploit the capabilities of the index, a further political comparison was made using data a decade apart from the presidential terms of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. For simplicity, measures of decomposition were computed using analysis of variance instead of the measures provided distinctly by Theil’s Index. Other research suggests that any differences between these methods are arbitrary. Other statistical analyses, such as testing for statistical significance of the data and test of hypothesis, were also made.
A great deal of literature is devoted to the subject of income and social services inequality. However, because Theil’s Index was originally developed for physics and rarely used for economics, it provides a distinct analysis. An intriguing aspect of this research was learning about the development, counterparts, and contributors of this theory, which offered an enriched understanding of its use and applications. February 9, 2007 2:56 PM>9, 2007 2:36 PM inequality of income and public assistance between and within regions, various outlay assessments can be made. For example, in 2002, there was greater equality between regions than within regions for income. This means that for a region like the southeast, states are growing further apart for earnings but averaging closer as a nation, often thought to be good for an economy. Also noted in this study, as should be assumed, was an inverse relationship between income and food stamps. Although some regions, like the South, received less than their share of both income and food stamps, many states in the New England region received more than their share for both. Upon comparing this information with data gathered during the Clinton administration, shifting trends were noted. In 1994, there were three regions that received less than their share of income and food stamps, while in 2002, there were only two. Participating in the BAC program has been one of the most valuable learning experiences of my undergraduate study. By conducting independent research with the assistance of a professor, I experienced academic research in a way that would have been impossible otherwise. More information on the material researched can be found in a paper submitted to the Academy of Economics and Finance titled “Inequality of State Income and Public Assistance.” The BAC program offers students of the College of Business Administration a chance to gain a working knowledge of classroom instruction through experience. This process of integrating academic study with real-world issues broadens the students’ understanding in a useful way. The quality of this educational experience is rooted in limitless access to experienced professionals. The opportunity to study emerging trends in the student’s field of study adds to the uniqueness of this program. The BAC program has provided me with experience in statistics that will follow me through my professional career.  Robert Lane Dossett is a senior accounting major from Petal, Miss. He is a member of the Honors College, Phi Kappa Phi, Omicron Delta Kappa, Golden Key International Honor Society, Gamma Beta Phi, Beta Gamma Sigma, Delta Sigma Pi, and Beta Alpha Psi. He has been the recipient of a Business Advisory Council Research Grant for two semesters. He is employed as a staff accountant with Sherron Broom & Assoc. After graduating in May 2005, he plans on attending law school. |
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| Catalyst: A Multidisciplinary Review of Undergraduate Scholarship | Contact Last revision: February 9, 2007 2:36 PM The University of Southern Mississippi | AA/EOE/ADAI |
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