Option #1: Critical Thinking: Cars
An expert who works for a car magazine obtained random data (rounded to the nearest thousand) among two categories of used or new cars: Domestic and Foreign.
The expert would like to understand sales based on list price (rounded to the nearest thousand dollars), sale price (rounded to the nearest thousand dollars), and number of days it takes to sell each car. The complete data set is in the file named Cars.
Managerial Report
Prepare a report (see below) that summarizes your assessment of the nature of the car market. Be sure to include the following seven items in your report.
Calculate descriptive statistics (mean, median, range, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation) to summarize each of the three variables for the all Domestic cars.
Use z-scores to determine if there any outliers in the data set for any of the three variables. If there are any outliers in any category, please list them and state for which category they are an outlier.
If a result is an outlier, state whether it is below or above the mean.
Explain how one can use the above descriptive statistics to understand the Domestic car market better?
Could there be any other descriptive statistics that can help one understand the Domestic car market better?
Descriptive statistics (mean, median, range, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation) to summarize each of the three variables for the all Foreign cars.
Use z-scores to determine if there any outliers in the data set for any of the three variables.
If there are any outliers in any category, please list them and state for which category they are an outlier.
If a result is an outlier, state whether it is below or above the mean.
How can one use the above descriptive statistics to understand the Foreign car market better?
Could there be any other descriptive statistic that can help one understand the Foreign car market better?
Compare your summary results from #1 and #2. Discuss any specific statistical results that would help the car expert understand the two-car markets.
Develop a 98% confidence interval estimate of the population mean sales price and population mean number of days to sell for Domestic cars. What is the margin of error?
Interpret what each confidence intervals means. How can both confidence intervals provide useful car sales information?
What other confidence interval would you choose to compute to obtain more information related to Domestic car sales? Explain why.
What happens to the confidence interval as the level of confidence is increased?
Develop a 98% confidence interval estimate of the population mean sales price and population mean number of days to sell for Foreign cars. What is the margin of error?
Interpret what each confidence intervals means. How can both confidence intervals provide useful car sales information?
What other confidence interval would you choose to compute to obtain more information related to Domestic car sales? Explain why.
Assume the car expert requested estimates of the mean number of days to sell for the Domestic cars with a margin of error of seven days and the mean selling price of foreign cars with a margin of error of eight days.
Using 98% confidence, how large should the sample sizes be for each one?
How could the sample size formula be useful in understanding both types of car businesses? What are some advantages of a larger sample size?
Suppose a Domestic car has a list price of $30,000 and a Foreign car has a list price of $30,000. What is your estimate of the final selling price (based on the percent difference for the sale and list price) and number of days required to sell each of these cars?
How would these two estimates be useful in this application?
Write a report that adheres to the formatting and APA expectations outlined on the CSU Global Writing Center. As with all written assignments at CSU Global, you should have in-text citations and a reference page.
Submit your Excel file in addition to your report.
Requirements:
Paper must be written in third person.
Your paper should be four to five pages in length (counting the title page and references page) and cite and integrate at least one credible outside source. The CSU Global Library is a great place to find resources.
Include a title page, introduction, body, conclusion, and a reference page.
The introduction should describe or summarize the topic or problem. It might discuss the importance of the topic or how it affects you or society as a whole, or it might discuss or describe the unique terminology associated with the topic.
The body of your paper should answer the questions posed in the problem. Explain how you approached and answered the question or solved the problem, and, for each question, show all steps involved. Be sure this is in paragraph format, not numbered answers like a homework assignment.
The conclusion should summarize your thoughts about what you have determined from the data and your analysis, often with a broader personal or societal perspective in mind. Nothing new should be introduced in the conclusion that was not previously discussed in the body paragraphs.
Include any tables of data or calculations, calculated values, and/or graphs associated with this problem in the body of your assignment.
Document formatting, citations, and style should conform to the CSU Global Writing Center. A short summary containing much that you need to know about paper formatting, citations, and references is contained in the New Sample APA Paper. In addition, information in the CSU Global Library has many helpful areas (Writing Center, Writing Tips, Template Examples/Papers Essays, and others).
