The following is an example of a table generated by SCAN using Population Data . SCAN users should ask themselves, "What question am I trying to answer?" or "What am I researching?" Answering these questions will help the user to determine which variables should be selected during each step of the table creation process. For this example, we are interested in determining the population of the counties in the Palmetto Health District in 1999 in order to calculate several different rates for this area of the state. In order to generate the above table that answers our research interests, the following step-by-step process was followed on the "Create a Table" page: STEP 1 Step One defines the variable whose levels will occupy the rows of the table. Users can select year, race, sex, age group, or county. For this example, county was chosen. We will specify the particular counties we are interested in during Step 6. STEP 2 Step Two defines the variable whose levels will occupy the columns of the table. Users can select year, race, sex, age group, or county. For this example, year was chosen. STEP 3 Step Three specifies the years of interest. If year is the chosen row or column variable, the years you select in this step will occupy the rows or columns of your table. If year is neither a row nor column variable in your table, all years selected in this step will be summed together and shown in your table. For this example, we are interested in the most recent data year, so we selected 1999. STEP 4 Step Four is an optional step. In this example, we did not make any specifications here. If we were interested in seeing this same information for a particular combination of race, sex, and age, this is the step where we would define those levels. STEP 5 Step Five defines the geographic area to tally for your table. Users can select the entire state, a single county, or any group of counties. For this example, we are interested in the Palmetto Health District and a state total which consists of four counties: Fairfield, Lexington, Newberry, Richland Counties and South Carolina. The Ctrl key was held down, then South Carolina, Fairfield, Lexington, Newberry, and Richland Counties were clicked, and then the Ctrl key was released. STEP 6 Step Six specifies the numeric output for the table. Users can select from frequencies only, frequencies and column percents, or frequencies and row percents. Since we are interested in finding the denominator values for rates, we select frequencies only. SUBMIT REQUEST Submit the request after completing the step-by-step process. An output table will be promptly returned to the user based upon the specifications. Once the table is returned, the user can view, print, or download the table. The rotate option on the table allows the row and column variable to rotate. All specifications from the step-by-step process are defined in the table's title and labeling. Double-check this information to make sure you've obtained the information to answer your research objective. INTERPRETATION OF DATA Interpretation of the table is the user's responsibility. Thorough labels are provided to make interpretation more intuitive. For this example, 573,209 is shown as the population total for the Palmetto Health District. County-specific population estimates are also shown. From SCAN BIRTH we can find the number of live births in the Palmetto Health District in 1999. From SCAN DEATH we can find the number of deaths in the Palmetto Health District in 1999. Those numbers would serve as numerators for rate calculation of the Palmetto Health District's 1999 Live Birth Rate and their 1999 (Crude) Death Rate. The results from SCAN POPULATION serve as denominators for these particular calculations. WHEN USING THE TABLE Please reference any data extracted from the SCAN system as follows: Source: Division of Biostatistics, PHSIS, SC DPH.