Business Statistics

STA510 Business Statistics
Semester 1 2021
Written Assignment: Computer Application Project
(worth 30% of the overall assessment)
DUE DATE: 11:59PM (Darwin time), 30th May 2021
Instructions:
• You will need to download Assignment Question file (this file) and data file to complete your
assignment.
• All numerical calculations and graphs/plots should be done using EXCEL as much as possible.
• Only typed assessments in a Word document will be marked. Hand-written equations and symbols
are accepted if scanned and pasted into the word document. You have to copy and paste Excel
outputs (eg, plots, tables etc) into your main assignment, which is a Word document. Any answer in
the Excel document, but not in the main document, will NOT be marked.
• The completed assignment (Word document and Excel file) must be submitted electronically via
“Written Assignment Submission Point” under Written Assignment folder.
• Word files that are not accompanied by Excel files will NOT be marked.
• You are required to keep a hard copy of the submitted assignment to re-submit, in case the original
submission is lost for some reason.
Important Notice:
As this is an individual assessment item, students should submit their individual assignment. All
assignments submitted will go through a matching process. If found to have plagiarised, all
submissions involved would receive a mark of zero for this assessment item.
Page 1 of 2
Computer Applications Assignment Problem
Assume that you are a research analyst in a business firm. Your team leader has given you a research
task to investigate whether the Private Gross Fixed Capital Formation (on Machinery and
Equipment) in Australia is a good predictor of the Gross Domestic Production of the country.
Using the link given below, download the data on the following two variables from the Australian
Bureau of Statistics (ABS) website and answer the questions 1-6.
Data link:
http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/viewcontent?readform&view=ProductsbyCatalogue&
Action=expandwithheader&Num=1
(ABS Catalogue Number: 52: National Accounts>>5206.0 Australian National Accounts: National
Income, Expenditure and Product. >> data downloads >> Table 3. Expenditure on Gross Domestic
Product (GDP), Current prices Excel sheet)> Data1 sheet
Variables:
(A) PRIVATE GROSS FIXED CAPITAL FORMATION – MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT –
Total (original) in $ Millions; – quarterly data (Series ID A2302532K) from March 1986
to December 2020.
(B) GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT: (original) in $ Millions; – quarterly data (Series ID
A2302467A) from March 1986 to December 2020.
1. Download data (in excel format) for PRIVATE GROSS FIXED CAPITAL FORMATION –
MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT (GFCF) and GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) for
the period March 1986 to December 2020 from the above website to carry out Tasks 2-6.
Display a screenshot of first 10 rows of the dataset.
(1 mark)
2. Using appropriate graphical descriptive techniques (in Excel):
(a) describe the movements of two data series GFCF and GDP.
(b) analyse the relationship between the two variables, GFCF and GDP.
(4 marks)
3. Using appropriate numerical descriptive methods (in Excel):
(a) summarize the above two data series, GFCF and GDP.
(b) comment on the strength and the direction of the relationship between GFCF and GDP.
(4 marks)
(cont.)
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4. Using the Simple Linear Regression technique,
(a) develop a model to explain the relationship between GFCF and GDP. Explain the reason for
your choice of the dependent and independent variables of your model.
(b) estimate the model you proposed in 4(a) using Excel and display the output.
(c) interpret the estimated coefficients you obtained in 4(b).
(7 marks)
5. Applying appropriate statistical techniques,
(a) test whether the linear relationship between Gross Fixed Capital Formation – Machinery and
Equipment and Gross Domestic Product you estimated in Q4 is significant (use a = 0.05).
(Hint: display 6 steps process in relation to this test).
(b) assess the fitness of the estimated model you have estimated in Q4.
(8 marks)
6. Based on all your answers above, write a summary report about your findings to hand over to
your team leader (maximum 250 words).
(6 marks)
END OF ASSIGNMENT