ECON10005 – Quantitative Methods I Data Analysis Report
2023 Semester 2 Draft Task
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Quantitative Methods I (ECON10005)
Data Analysis Report: Draft Task
1. Purpose
This assessment task gives students an opportunity to critically analyse a series of real-
world data and present their findings in the form of a business report. Such a task simulates
the requirements of many business graduate positions within both the public and private
sectors. By completing this task, students are expected to develop their critical and creative
thinking skills, presentation and written articulation of quantitative arguments, and
collaborative skills.
2. General Instructions to Students
• The Draft Task is available on Page 3. Read all instructions in this document carefully.
• The Draft Task carries 5% of the total assessment in ECON10005.
• The draft task has a word limit of 700 words.
o No penalty is applied to submissions with a word count within 10% of the word
limit.
o Graphs, tables, equations and appendices do not count toward the word limit,
provided they do not house substantive explanation, analysis, or discussion.
• All submissions are checked for plagiarism and originality. Students should be
familiar with the University’s academic integrity policy, available here.
o Explanation, analysis, or discussion generated by AI software (including
ChatGPT) is not permitted in this assessment.
• Students should rely only on the material discussed in Lectures 1–6 and Tutorials 1–3
of ECON10005 in preparing their report. All statistical analyses should be conducted
using Microsoft Excel.
o Students are not required (nor would it be advantageous) to consult external
materials or provide a reference list.
• Students may use the Ed Discussion Board to clarify questions about this assignment.
o No student should either answer or ask a question on the Ed Discussion Board,
upload part of their assignment (including calculations and written work), or
discuss their exact approach to the assignment.
3. Submission Guidelines
• Assignment Submission
o Submissions must be made using the link on Canvas before 2pm on Friday, 08
September (Week 7).
 Assignments only need to be submitted by one group member.
 Late submissions will receive no feedback and a mark of zero.
ECON10005 – Quantitative Methods I Data Analysis Report
2023 Semester 2 Draft Task
Page 2 of 4
 Issues about formatting or incorrect/incomplete versions of submitted
assignments are not considered valid grounds for an extension.
o Students should refer to the Subject Guide (available on Canvas) for the
extension policy applicable to this assignment.
• Assignment Formatting
o Assignments should include a cover page denoting the Student ID numbers of
all group members, the tutorial time and location, and the tutor’s name.
o Assignments must be typed and compiled into a single PDF document before
submission.
 Handwritten assignments will not be marked, and any handwritten
additions (including graphs or equations) to otherwise typed
assignments will be ignored.
4. Group Formation
• This task may be completed in groups of up to 4 (four) students.
• All students in a group must be enrolled in the same tutorial.
• Groups must be registered using the link on Canvas by 2pm on Friday, 01 September
(Week 6).
o Late registrations are not accepted. Students who did not register their group
before this time must submit independently written, individual assignments.
• Groups formed to complete the Draft Task must remain the same for the Final Task.
o Members may not be omitted from or added to groups between the tasks unless
written permission is obtained from the tutor of the group’s tutorial.
• All members of the same group will receive the same mark.
• Serious issues pertaining to collaboration between group members should be raised
with a group’s tutor with sufficient time before the relevant deadline for action to be
taken. Members of the same group should exchange contact details and have an open
and honest dialogue about their goals, skills and availability as soon as the group is
formed.
ECON10005 – Quantitative Methods I Data Analysis Report
2023 Semester 2 Draft Task
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5. The Task
Suppose that your group is leading the financial division of a prominent insurance firm. Your
firm is prepared to offer insurance to members of the public for the cost of receiving certain
healthcare services.1
Your company’s executive staff members have asked you to write a report analysing the cost
of your insurance offering. To aid you in this task, the executive provided a random sample
of = 1004 of customer data, including the total value of their insurance
claims (the cost). This report will guide their strategic direction into the future and will inform
future insurance pricing decisions.
Specifically, the executive is eager to gain insight into the following matters:
Firstly
• The distribution of the cost of insurance, and the other demographic characteristics,
across the whole customer base, namely
o a table including the sample size, mean, median, standard deviation, range,
interquartile range, minimum, maximum and 90th percentile of the cost, age,
number of children, and BMI of the customers;
o at least one graphical representation of the cost and BMI;
o an approximately 300-word explanation of the distributions and any
interesting/noteworthy features.
Secondly
Any similarities/differences in the distribution of insurance cost across particular demographic
characteristics. Accordingly, please choose the two most important of the following options,
justifying your choice in approximately 50 words and then presenting an approximate 75-word
discussion for each of your two choices (75 + 75 = 150 words):
o the differences in central tendency, variability and skewness of cost across
smoking status, including at least one visual aid;
o the differences in central tendency, variability and skewness of cost across
gender, including at least one visual aid;
o the differences in central tendency, variability and skewness of cost across
regions of residence, including at least one graphical aid.
Finally
1 To become insured, a member of the public must buy an insurance plan from your company (the cost of which is referred to
as a ‘premium’), which outlines the circumstances in which they can make a claim, and the amount they can claim in those
circumstances. If an insured person incurs medical costs covered by their insurance, your company must pay the amount
specified in the insurance plan to the insured person (this could be an amount exceeding, equal to, or less than the premium
they have paid, depending on the size of the premium charged, and the cost of the service). If an insured person incurs no
medical costs covered by their plan, they do not have their premium refunded.
ECON10005 – Quantitative Methods I Data Analysis Report
2023 Semester 2 Draft Task
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• The relationship between the cost of insurance and other demographic characteristics;
Accordingly, please provide
o A visual representation of the relationship between cost and the claimant’s
number of children and an approximately 50-word explanation.
o An assessment of the strength of the relationship between the cost and the
claimants’ Age, BMI, and Number of Children respectively, defended by
appropriate descriptive statistics.
o A 50-word hypothesis as to why the strongest relationship you identified exists.
You should be aware that not all members of the executive are NOT statistically trained, so
jargon should be avoided, and technical terminology should be defined in an Appendix. You
should also ensure that your report has a complete structure (including both an introduction
and a conclusion), and is professionally formatted with an appropriate title, headings and
subheadings.