COAS E104 Fall 1998 SECTION 0153

EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT 3
Web and Library Hunt on McDonaldization

Handout date: October 26 - Due on November 4

 

Value: Worth 10-20 points towards your semester grade

Goal: Find some information on the global consumption of a GOOD, COMMODITY, or BRAND.

Length: No more than two pages.

Assignment: Spend some time in the library or searching on the web and find us either a TABLE or a MAP showing the worldwide levels of ownership or consumption of a specific kind of consumer good (a kind of food, appliance, movie, video-game), or a commodity (for example, wheat flour, gasoline, olive oil), or a specific brand (Sony, Adidas, Disney, Coke, Spam). We want NUMBERS, which tell us how much of this stuff is owned or consumed per year in at least 20 countries - the best kind of number would tell us how much on a per-capita basis (since countries vary so much in size).

The Rules: You have to do this on your own. You cannot turn in the same information as your friends. If you find it on a website you have to give the full web address. If you find it in an atlas or book, or in a magazine like American Demographics, you have to give us a full reference to the source.

Where to look: Dr. Wilk's website on global consumption (http://www.indiana.edu/~wanthro/consum.htm) has a couple of suggestions for starting places. You can also visit the websites of the trade associations for particular kinds of goods (there is an association of manufacturers for almost any item you can think of), and you can search the sites of particular companies too. Don't be shy about going to the business library and asking a librarian there - they have all kinds of corporate reports and other kinds of data there. Be creative! Talk to a librarian. Track down something really interesting!

Your report: Show us a table, chart, or map of the item you chose. Write a paragraph or two telling us where you found it, and how you found it. Tell us if you see anything particularly interesting about the data you found. You will get points for this assignment according to the quality of the data and the way you present it, and points if it is especially interesting or unusual.