QA 233 (Basic Business Statistics)

Practice Problems IV - Chapters 1-4

Hello QA 233 students! The following problems require you to use material from 'Introduction to Data and Statistics,' 'Descriptive Statistics: Organizing and Displaying Data,' 'Descriptive Statistics: Numerical Measures,' and 'Introduction to Probability'  (slide sets 1-4 and chapters 1-4 in the ASW textbook). I have also posted the solutions on the Virtual Classroom web page. Have a good day.

Eddie Fletcher, a financial analyst for the firm of Bink, Brink, Blink, and Dink (BBB&D) has been tracking the price of on share of SMC Oil on a weekly basis for the past six months. Additionally, he has collected information on the average price per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline over the same period. The data he has collected are:

Date	Beginning of Week Stock Price	Average Price Per Gallon of Regular Unleaded Gasoline
6/28/99	42.825	$0.899
7/12/99	43.125	$0.929
7/19/99	42.250	$0.939
7/26/99	43.375	$0.939
8/02/99	43.500	$0.929
8/09/99	43.825	$0.939
8/16/99	44.250	$0.959
8/23/99	44.125	$0.969
8/30/99	45.375	$0.999
9/06/99	45.000	$1.039
9/13/99	44.675	$0.999
9/20/99	46.125	$1.059
9/27/99	45.750	$1.039
10/04/99	46.500	$1.069
10/11/99	46.750	$1.089
10/18/99	46.875	$1.099
10/25/99	47.000	$1.149
11/01/99	46.875	$1.139
11/08/99	48.125	$1.179
11/15/99	47.875	$1.179
11/22/99	47.750	$1.199
11/29/99	47.875	$1.219
12/06/99	48.500	$1.249
12/13/99	48.750	$1.239
12/20/99	49.125	$1.289
12/27/99	49.125	$1.299

 

1. Has Mr. Fletcher collected a census or a sample? Please explain.

2. How many observations has Mr. Fletcher collected?

3. How frequently does BBB&D’s Beginning of Week Stock Price increase from one week to the next?

4. On how many variables has Mr. Fletcher collected data?

5. What is the probability that both Average Price Per Gallon of Regular Unleaded Gasoline and BBB&D’s Beginning of Week Stock Price increase from one week to the next? What approach(es) are you using to assess this probability?

6. At what level is each variable measured? What are the ramifications (i.e., how does this limit what you can do analytically with each variable)?

7. Is this data time-series or cross-sectional in nature? Please explain your response.

8. Have these data been collected observationally or experimentally? Please explain your response.

9. What is the probability that either Average Price Per Gallon of Regular Unleaded Gasoline or BBB&D’s Beginning of Week Stock Price increases from one week to the next?

10. From what population has this data been collected?

11. Does there appear to be a relationship between BBB&D’s Beginning of Week Stock Price and Average Price Per Gallon of Regular Unleaded Gasoline? If so, what is the nature of the relationship? Support your conclusion with the appropriate graphical display and numerical descriptive statistics.

12. Is there an apparent pattern to the values of BBB&D’s Beginning of Week Stock Price and Date of Measurement? Support your conclusion with appropriate graphical display.

13. Is there an apparent pattern to the values of Average Price Per Gallon of Regular Unleaded Gasoline and Date of Measurement? Support your conclusion with appropriate graphical display.

14. Given that Average Price Per Gallon of Regular Unleaded Gasoline has increased over the past week, what is the probability that BBB&D’s Beginning of Week Stock Price would also increase over the same period of time?

15. What is the probability that Average Price Per Gallon of Regular Unleaded Gasoline increases by at least 0.500 from one week to the next?

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