For the Unit 6 discussion, you will work with a team to conduct a regression analysis for one of the chosen data sets. To find the names of your team members, go to the More Tools dropdown on the Course Home page. Choose Groups, then click on the number under the heading Members and you will see a listing of your team members. You can also email your team members directly from this page.

Through your reading this week, you have hopefully come to realize there is a certain order to the procedures one follows when conducting regression analysis. The Unit 6 discussion will be a team discussion effort and will allow you to simulate the flow of tasks involved in this type of analysis. The success of your team's final prediction output will require team collaboration and interdependence in getting each of the tasks completed in a timely, appropriate order.

The individual tasks are outlined below and depending on when each team member logs into the discussion to complete their part. The tasks are labeled Task 1, Task 2, etc. depending on their placement in the sequential process. ***It is very important that you change the subject line to "Your Name – Task #" when you post your team contribution, so the next member who logs in will know where they need to continue in the project.***

Post 1: Initial Response

When you log in to the discussion, review the posts that have already been made. Review the subject lines to determine which tasks have already been completed. Your job is then to complete the next task in the team project.

The tasks for your team discussion in sequential order are:

1. As the first team member to log in, you will be responsible for choosing the team dataset. Click here to see your choices (or download the file in Course Resources). In your response, change the subject line to "Your Name – Task 1," provide the name of the dataset, and briefly explain why you chose this dataset. In addition, state the goal of your regression analysis and specify which variable will be your independent variable and which variable will be your dependent variable.
2. Using your first team member's dataset choice and specification of independent and dependent variables, create a scatter plot using Excel to provide a visual representation of the relationship between the two variables. Make sure to label the graph appropriately, and include a title on the graph. In your response, change the subject line to "Your Name – Task 2." Attach your Excel spreadsheet for use in subsequent tasks.
3. Using your second team member's scatterplot, comment on the relationship, or lack of one, that you see from the scatterplot (include comments on strength, form (linear or nonlinear), and direction). Calculate the correlation coefficient, and comment on any additional information this statistic provides regarding the relationship between the two variables. Based on these first three tasks of the project, would you recommend that your team continue with the creation of a linear model for prediction? In your response, change the subject line to "Your Name – Task 3."
4. Use your third team member's correlation value to calculate the coefficient of determination. Explain what this value tells you about your model in terms of "explained variance." Explain what this value tells you about your model in terms of "unexplained variance." Should you use the word "cause" in your explanation – why or why not? In your response, change the subject line to "Your Name – Task 4."
5. Regardless of whether the linear model is appropriate or not, use the attached scatterplot from Task 2 and Excel to derive the equation of the linear model. Show the equation on the scatterplot. What is the slope of the linear model? What is the y-intercept of the linear model? Are the sign of the slope of the regression line and the sign of the correlation coefficient the same? Will this always be the case? In your response, change the subject line to "Your Name – Task 5."
6. Pick a reasonable value for your independent variable to make a prediction of the dependent variable. How do you know this is a reasonable value? Using your team member's Task 5 equation and your chosen value, make a prediction for your dependent variable – MAKE SURE TO SHOW WORK. Using your chosen value and the predicted value, explain what information this tells you. Based on all of the previous tasks, do you feel that your prediction is reliable – why or why not? In your response, change the subject line to "Your Name – Task 6."
7. Pick an unreasonable value for your independent variable to make a prediction of the dependent variable. How do you know this is an unreasonable value? Using your team member's Task 5 equation and your chosen value, make a prediction for your dependent variable – MAKE SURE TO SHOW WORK. Using your chosen value and the predicted value, explain what information this tells you. Based on all of the previous tasks, do you feel that your prediction is reliable – why or why not? In your response, change the subject line to "Your Name – Task 7."