Print out your results and bring them with you to the midterm as there will be additional questions on the midterm related to this analysis. You must hand in your take-home by the beginning of the test. Late take-homes will not be accepted. You make work in groups of up to 4 people. If there is evidence of collaboration beyond that, either in that your group is larger than 4, or that you gave answers to other teams, you will get a 0 on the entire test and be reported to the judiciary committee for cheating. You will not be graded any differently whether you work individually or in a group, no matter what the group size is (as long as no more than 4. Only one take-home per team should be turned in (If you have team members from both sections, turn in take-home at 8:10. )
Paxcelli owns a local store that sells leather furniture, and she needs to be able to predict what sales are likely to be. She has 33 months of past sales data. She's also gone to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website to look up the state unemployment rate. (Hint: Download this from the website to avoid entering data by hand!)
Use MS Excel. You may use either regression technique that was demoed in class, but you will be expected to be familiar with how to interpret the solutions for BOTH at the time of the midterm.
Part A Perform the appropriate linear trend analysis in Excel
Part B Perform the appropriate associative forecast in Excel
For both part A and B
* Circle the correct values for a (intercept), b (slope), and R2.
* Provide an Excel graphic that displays both the underlying data and the linear regression. If the graphics are too small, badly distorted or hard to see, you don't get credit.
The formatting points (2 full points!) goes to you if you have done all of the following correctly:
* List all team members in alphabetic order, A to Z, by last name, at the top right of the 1st page.
* Provide at most 2 pages- ONE for part A, ONE for part B (cover sheets are wasteful!)
* If handling in more than 1 page, fasten them with a stapler.