Instruction
Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read Chapter 4 of your textbook, including
the “Cost of Living Brief Case” at the end of Chapter 4 on page 143, and access the
Numbeo Cost of Living
In this assignment, you will be analyzing the cost of living in any U.S. city and creating
a scatterplot to identify the relationships between variables. You may want to choose
the city you live in, the city you were born in, or a city you may be interested in moving
to in the future.
Go to the Numbeo Cost of Living
(Links to an external site.)
web page. In the “Select City” Denver Colorado , search box, type in the name of your
city until it appears in the drop-down menu. Select your desired city. Note: For an
accessible version of cost of living data, please contact your instructor.
A summary, along with cost of living index for the city you selected, will be displayed in
the box at the top of the page. You will also see a breakdown of items with their
associated cost. The first column is the item name, the second column is the cost of the
item in your city, and the third column is the range of the cost for that item.
For this assignment, you need the first data item for each category and associated cost
listed in the second column. For example, for “Utilities (Monthly),” choose the value for
the first item under it—i.e., “Basic (Electricity, Heating, Cooling, Water, Garbage) for 915
sq ft Apartment.” For “Rent Per Month,” choose the value for the first item under it—i.e.,
“Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre.”
It is recommended that you use Excel to compile and analyze the data. Instructions for
using Excel. However, you are welcome to use the tool of your choice.
Choose the following categories from the list (in your paper, call them 1–5 as listed
below) and the numeric data from the first item listed in the dataset:
1. Utilities (Monthly)
○ Basic utilities (electricity, heating, cooling, water, garbage) for 915
square foot apartment
2. Sports and Leisure
○ Fitness club, monthly fee for one adult
3. Childcare
○ Preschool (or kindergarten), full-day daycare, private, monthly for
one child
4. Rent Per Month
○ Apartment (1 bedroom) in city centre
5. Salaries and Financing
○ Average monthly net salary (After Tax)
In your Excel spreadsheet or tool of your choosing, you will have a table with five rows
and two columns. The first column is numbered 1 through 5 and the second column will
be the cost associated with the line item under the category for your city. In your Excel
spreadsheet or other tool,
● Draw a scattered graph of the above selected data set.
● Display the regression line (also called trendline, linear model, and line of
best fit) for the above categories in your city.
● Display the equation for the linear model and the R2 value on the graph. In
Excel, right click on the line graph to display the options, scroll down and
select the boxes for display equation on chart and display R-squared on chart
options.
In your paper,
● Provide a URL of the website with your data along with your excel
spreadsheet of the graph with equation and R2 value
● Analyze your findings on the best and worst predictor among these
categories on the cost of living in your city.
● Assess the relationship between the variables, including any causation,
correlation, or influences between the variables.
The Identifying Relationships Between Variables paper
● Must be two to three double-spaced pages in length (not including any
graphs, tables, title, or references pages) and formatted according to APA
style
● Must include a separate title page with the following:
○ Title of paper
○ Student’s name
○ Course name and number
○ Instructor’s name
○ Date submitted
● Must utilize academic voice.
●
● Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction
paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the
purpose of your paper.
○ as well as Writing a Thesis Statement
● Must use at least one credible source in addition to the course text.
○ The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources
● Must document any information used from sources in APA style
● Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA
style
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/