Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read Chapter 4 of your textbook, including the Brief Case “Cost of Living” at the end of Chapter 4 on page 143 and access the Numbeo Northern America: Current Cost of Living Index by City (numbeo.com)Links to an external site.

In this assignment, you will be analyzing the Cost of Living Index and the Groceries Index for seven U.S. cities and creating a scatterplot to identify the relationships between the variables.  You may choose any seven U.S. cities you wish.

Go to the Numbeo Northern America: Current Cost of Living Index by City (numbeo.com)Links to an external site.  and then follow directions below to get started:

• Identify seven cities and note the “Cost of Living Index” value and the “Groceries Index” value.
• Develop a table with three columns:
  • City
  • Groceries Index (independent variable)
  • Cost of Living Index (dependent variable)
• Complete one row for column titles (City name, Groceries Index, and Cost of Living Index) and seven rows that show the city name, Groceries Index and the Cost of Living index.

In your Excel spreadsheet or tool of your choosing you will have developed a table with three columns, one row for titles, and seven rows containing data for each city you selected. In Excel or the software of your choosing: 

• Insert or draw a scatterplot of the selected data set.
• Display the regression line (also called the trend line, linear model, or line of best fit). In Excel click anywhere in the scatterplot.  Click on the plus sign and at the bottom of Chart Elements select “Trend line.”
• Display the equation for the trend line and R2 value on the graph. In Excel right click on the trend line.  View the options on the right of the chart under “Format Trendline” and scroll to the bottom to select the boxes for display equation on chart and display R-squared on chart options.

In your paper:

• Cite the URL and complete an APA reference for the URL.
• Provide the table with your data and your spreadsheet of the graph with the equation and R2
• Analyze your findings of the best and worst cities that predict the relationship between the Groceries Index and Cost of Living Index.
• Assess the relationship between the Groceries Index and Cost of Living Index in the cities you studied.

The assignment

• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper in bold font
    • Space should appear between the title and the rest of the information on the title page.
  • Student’s name
  • Name of institution (University of Arizona Global Campus)
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Due date

• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic VoiceLinks to an external site. resource for additional guidance.
• 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.
  • For assistance on writing Introductions & ConclusionsLinks to an external site. as well as Writing a Thesis StatementLinks to an external site., refer to the Writing Center resources.
• Must use at least one credible source in addition to the course text.
  • The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible SourcesLinks to an external site. table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.

• Must document any information used from sources in APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA: Citing Within Your PaperLinks to an external site. guide.
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Writing Center. See the APA: Formatting Your References ListLinks to an external site. resource in the Writing Center for specifications.

Carefully review the Grading RubricLinks to an external site. for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.