Carleton University, Department of Economics
Econ 2201 E
Instructor: Solomon Aklilu
Assignment #2, January 16, 2004
Due date: Friday January 23, 2004
Numbers in parenthesis are marks for each question.
1.
Gasoline price controlling group generates a report on gasoline prices every month. On September
26, 2002 they selected a random sample of 51 stations in the US to determine that day’s price of
unleaded gasoline, and reported the following data today: ( prices are in dollars per gallon)
1.06 0.98 1.03 1.11 0.96 1.07 1.31 1.66 1.17 1.20 1.10
1.21 1.18 1.01 1.09 1.09 1.05 1.03 1.12 1.10 1.05 1.02
1.04 0.96 1.04 1.10 1.03 0.97 1.32 1.01 1.29 1.10 1.03
1.18 1.16 1.09 1.26 1.07 1.11 1.09 1.17 1.11 1.11 1.08
(a)
(b)
(c)
2.
Create a data array with gasoline price data. (1)
Create two histograms for this data set using 5 classes for the first and 15 classes
for the second. Estimate the number of prices that bare at least $1.15 using each
of the two histograms. (2)
A local radio station has reported that 30% of the gas stations are charging $1.15
or more for gasoline. Use one of the histograms you produced above to respond to
this report. Which histogram do you use and why? (2)
You are given the following frequency distribution on bank deposits in Ontario.
DEPOSIT SIZE
NUMBER
TOTAL DEPOSITS
(IN MILLIONS)
OF BANKS
(IN MILLIONS)
<5
5 to < 10
10 to < 25
25 to < 50
50 to < 100
100 to < 500
> 500
(a)
(b)
(c)
1.04 1.21
1.23 1.09
1.09 1.21
1.04
2
7
6
3
2
2
2
7.2
52.1
111.1
95.4
166.6
529.8
1663.0
Does this frequency distribution violate any of the rules of construction for
frequency distributions? If so, what changes do you make to remedy this
violation. (1)
If you want to target companies that would require financial support from banks
that has at least $25 million in deposits, how would you reconstruct the frequency
distribution to attract such companies to relocate to Ontario. Consider different
classes that would accomplish such a goal. (1.5)
Repeat this process to attract companies for banks that have between $5 million
and $25 million in deposits. (1)
1
(d)
Present a one-paragraph summary of what the data would mean to a company
considering moving to Ontario, you need to include relative frequencies in your
presentation. (1.5)
3.
You are given the following data reflecting the number of people in a study having each of the
following investments.
(a)
(b)
4.
(a)
(b)
(c)
5.
INVESTMENT TYPE
NUMBER OF PEOPLE
Mutual Fund
Savings Account
Certificate of Deposit
Individual Stocks
Bonds
Real Estate
Other
357
506
158
347
86
169
41
Based on this data, construct a bar chart to effectively display data. Which
investments are most popular? (2.5)
Discuss the relative advantages of using a bar chart, pie chart, or Pareto chart to
represent this data set. (2.5)
The following data is an expense of a company on advertisement for the past year and the
projected budget for the next year. ( Expenses are in 1000 dollars)
MEDIUM
THIS YEAR’S
EXPENSE
NEXT YEAR’S
BUDGET
Newspapers
Television
Trade Publications
Other Medium
$35
$60
$25
$10
$40
$80
$25
$10
Develop a bar chart that shows both this year’s expenses and next year’s budget.
(1.5)
Use a chart to show the media that will have the largest percentage increase in
next year’s budget compared to this year’s expenses. (1.5)
Determine the proportion of this year’s expenses and next year’s budget allocated
in printed media. (2)
The following information, taken from the 2001 Annual Report of a firm, shows the capital
expenditure (in millions of dollars) made to modernize the firm’s laboratories.
YEAR
CAPITAL EXPENDITURE
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
34
52
64
73
76
78
40
2001
(a)
(b)
Prepare a bar chart for this data. (2.5)
Discuss the effectiveness of a bar chart in showing how the capital expenditure
for 2001 fit in the trend that had been established in the last six years. (2.5)
2