Reference no: EM132157723 , Length: word count:1000
Assignment -
There are three issues in this set. Select one that you feel the most passionate about and answer that. Limit your answer to a maximum of three pages (double-spaced text with reasonable margins).
Pick one of the following issues:
1. One recent proposal is to roll back fuel efficiency standards for newer automobiles. The main argument for the move is focused on "safety and saving lives." Here are three lines of argument: (1) "As cars and trucks become more fuel-efficient, the cost of driving goes down and people are likely to drive more," and hence an increase in road fatalities; (2) cars that are more fuel-efficient cost more and hence people will keep their cars a bit longer, thus missing out on safety features of newer cars, which will lead to an increase in fatalities; and (3) fuel-efficiency increases of vehicles results in lighter vehicles, which are prone to more damage in accidents, but lighter vehicles also do not damage other vehicles that much. Depending on which effect is more, there could be increases in fatalities.
Pick one of the lines of argument, define the problem clearly, and present a data-driven argument to either defend or refute that position. Please do not read any articles related to this issue; instead do some serious thinking about numbers. (Source: unknown)
2. You are convinced that getting an MBA for individuals like yourself makes monetary sense in the long run. However, many of your friends and colleagues are not convinced of that. For the benefit of your friends and colleagues, you are interested in presenting a data-driven defense of your position. To do that, define the problem clearly, and present a data-driven defense for your position. Please do not read any articles related to this issue; instead do some serious thinking about numbers. (Source: unknown)
3. A staff attorney for the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has been assigned a deceptive-advertising case. The firm in question readily admitted that its advertising claim was false. In fact, its defense was that the claim was so blatantly false that no one would be fooled by it. The claim was meant to amuse, not to deceive. The attorney has approached you to assist her in evaluating whether the consumers were misled by the advertising claim. In order to do that, define the problem clearly, and present a data-driven defense for your position. Please do not read any articles related to this issue; instead do some serious thinking about numbers. (Source: Business statistics: why and when by Richards & LaCava, McGraw-Hill, 1978.)
For the issue you pick, develop a plan to defend your position with the support coming from data you collect and the analysis you perform. Your plan must address the following:
- What is your clear definition of the problem? I.e., what is it that you would like to show with evidence from data and analysis?
- What data would you collect? Identify and specify the variables (so that they can be measured), list them, and specify why each variable is useful (or needed) for the study. List a few (made-up) values for each variable. Be very specific and to the point.
- Present a plan for collecting the data specified above, in the form of a series of specific instructions for someone else who would actually collect the data for you.
- Provide a justification for your plan as it pertains to the quality of the data that will be collected (i.e., explain why you believe that the data collected will be of good quality to address the issue raised in the study).