Description

Start by reading and following these instructions:

1. Quickly skim the questions or assignment below and the assignment rubric to help you focus.

2. Read the required chapter(s) of the textbook and any additional recommended resources. Some answers may require you to do additional research on the Internet or in other reference sources. Choose your sources carefully.

3. Consider the discussion and the any insights you gained from it.

4. Create your Assignment submission and be sure to cite your sources, use APA style as required, check your spelling.

5. Do not just solve problems and answer questions.  This is a doctoral course!  You must explain the logic behind your work and answers and point to credible sources to support your positions, even if it is just the textbook.  You are expected to spend roughly 13 hours on this assignment: 8 hours studying the questions, finding and studying good sources, experimenting, and outlining the answers to ensure you know all that is required. You should then spend an additional 5 hours producing the solutions, answering the questions, and polishing your writing so you work is compelling.   Invest your time wisely, giving more time to the complex problems/answers in order to ensure that you demonstrate that you truly understand the answer.  This is your time to shine and be compelling!

Assignment:

1.  Select one of the following:

a.   A fitness center weighed 53 male athletes and then measured the weight that they were able to lift. The correlation was found to be r  = 0.75. Can you interpret this correlation without knowing whether the weights were in pounds or kilograms or a mixture of the two? After calculating the correlation, the analyst at the fitness center discovered that the scale used to weigh the athletes was off by 5 pounds; each athlete’s weight was measured as 5 pounds more than it actually was. How does this error affect the reported correlation?

Or

b.   Review your thesis and identify the response and explanatory variables. Calculate the correlation value ‘r’.

2.  Housing and Stocks - For the data for this assignment, refer to website mentioned above in Additional resources for this problem (Chapter 6 - 06_housing_stock). Problem 39 on Page 130. 

Each month, the Department of Commerce releases its estimate of construction activity. A key measure is the percentage change in the number of new homes under construction. Are changes in home construction associated with changes in the stock market? These data show the percentage change in the number of new, privately owned housing units started each month, as reported by the Department of Commerce. The data also include the percentage change in the S&P 500 index of the stock market.

(a)  Before looking at these data, do you expect these variables to be associated? If so, what do you anticipate the correlation to be?

(b)  Draw the scatterplot of the percentage change in the S&P 500 index on the percentage change in the number of new housing units started. Describe the association.

(c)  Find the correlation between the two variables in the scatterplot. What does the size of the correlation suggest about the strength of the association between these variables?