Question about DS (minority but not URM) Forum

[agalang]

I'm considering writing a DS but I wanted to get some opinions first. I'm a minority but not URM by definition (which doesn't really have anything to do with my question but I digress.) Anyway, I want to center it around the kind of environment/town I grew up in, and to illustrate that I was thinking of saying something like, "The percentage of people who have their bachelor's degree in MYTOWN is x.x%, as compared with the national average of x.x%" to illustrate the large disparity (and you can guess what kind of place I grew up in...)

So my questions are: 1) Do you think this is a good idea/what's your opinion on this? 2) Would I need to cite the information? (if I did I would probably leave it out bc I don't want it to come off as a research paper)

Any insight would be great!

[lawgod]

Sure. Just attach a page with spreadsheets, pie graphs, etc.

[agalang]

Sure. Just attach a page with spreadsheets, pie graphs, etc.

Can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not lol...if you aren't, don't you think that's a little too formal??

[fltanglab]

lawgod is joking.

I wouldn't cite the information because if they want to check your facts, they can do that. But I wouldn't include it unless it was a crucial part of your statement. In fact every freaking word in a statement should be important, or else you're not doing it efficiently.

[billyez]

The above post has it right - especially in that last statement. I'd just add that you can "show" the reader that it's unlikely that individuals from your neck of the woods are college-educated just from the story that you're weaving rather than telling them directly like this. Or, you could just say it directly, but I agree, there's no reason to say it like this.

We're unable to view the statement in the context of the rest of the DS, which...kind of makes it difficult to know for certain whether it's crucial or important to the whole statement; but I doubt that's the case. I feel that it's probably not that important as compared to the rest of what your saying.