Do a peer review for this Post.

1. This week in the course, you are reading about simple linear regression, one of the most important concepts in the field of statistics. Managerial decisions often are based on the relationship between two or more variables. For example, after considering the relationship between advertising expenditures and sales, a marketing manager might attempt to predict sales for a given level of advertising expenditures. In another case, a public utility might use the relationship between the daily high temperature and the demand for electricity to predict electricity usage on the basis of next month's anticipated daily high temperatures. Sometimes a manager will rely on intuition to judge how two variables are related. However, if data can be obtained, a statistical procedure calledregression analysiscan be used to develop an equation showing how the variables are related. Though the simple linear regression model is seldom used because most phenomena are affected by multiple variables, the simple linear regression model is the foundation for the more sophisticated models. As you review the article below, consider the potential variables and how you could develop a model to define the relationship between the variables. Read the article at the link below. FOR EACH OF THE SUB-TOPICS BELOW SUCH AS A, B, C, ETC., PLEASE BE SURE TO INCLUDE 6 - 8 SENTENCES TO ADEQUATELY ADDRESS EACH SUBTOPIC.

https://www.the74million.org/article/alarming-statistics-tell-the-story-behind-americas-college-completion-crisis-nearly-a-third-of-all-college-student-still-dont-have-a-degree-six-years-later/Links to an external site.

a. Provide a detailed summary of the article in terms of the key points, major issues raised, what you perceived as the most important facts, and any suggestions or recommendations you might have etc.

b. Evaluate the article and identify the important factors which the author overlooked or were not taken into context and might have led to different conclusions.

c. Comment on the various statistics which were used throughout the article and state whether the statistics provided enough evidence to support the writer's position. If you were to write a similar article, which statistics would you collect that the writer did not mention, and why would you collect them? What would be the importance of the statistics?

d. Based on your review of the article, provide alternatives to the author's view, that you believe are the most significant indicators of the failure to earn a college degree within six years.

2. In regression terminology, the variable being predicted is called the dependent variable. The variable or variables being used to predict the value of the dependent variable are called the independent variables. For example, in analyzing the effect of advertising expenditures on sales, a marketing manager's desire to predict sales would suggest making sales the dependent variable. Advertising expenditure would be the independent variable used to help predict sales. In statistical notation, "y" denotes the dependent variable and "x" denotes the independent variable. Regression analysis involving two or more independent variables is called multiple regression analysis. Using the information in the article, respond to the following questions below. FOR EACH OF THE SUB-TOPICS BELOW SUCH AS A, B, C, ETC., PLEASE BE SURE TO INCLUDE 6 - 8 SENTENCES TO ADEQUATELY ADDRESS EACH SUBTOPIC.

a. Choose or develop an independent and a dependent variable related to the information. Clearly state how you would collect data related to the variables and describe the type of relationship you would expect to see from simple linear regression analysis. Please note that simple regression analysis requires quantitative variables that can be measured. Race, gender, ethnicity etc., are not quantitative variables. Age, height, weight etc are quantitative variables.

b. Identify a significant moderating variable between your dependent and independent variable and explain the impact of the moderating variable. Explain how a college student, the college administration, and the Department of Education could benefit from your regression analysis and the specific variables you identified. State how your regression analysis could change the outcome for students.

c. You are now the president of a university. Describe the actions you would take, based on the analysis you completed.

Do a peer review to this answers of the question above.

1a. Provide a detailed summary of the article in terms of the key points, major issues raised, what you perceived as the most important facts, and any suggestions or recommendations you might have etc.

In this article, the author tries to give reasons as to why college drop outs or extended college stays are an issue in America today. Throughout the article, the author comments on statistics regarding the disparities between race, as well as income status as variables which would effect why students would drop out or take longer than 4 years to attain their degree. A lot of the statistics show that black and Hispanic students have a lower chance than white students to firstly, go to college, then also to graduate, and also to do it in time. Also, there are many statistics that show that low income families have a lower chance for these things as well. The author brings up the point that college is often seen as the answer to get out of generational poverty, but yet there are other options such as trade school. Also, there is the problem of the choice of school in which to attend and how that effects graduation rates.

1b. Evaluate the article and identify the important factors which the author overlooked or were not taken into context and might have led to different conclusions.

One issue not raised (in detail, but somewhat by inference) is that of the raising cost of higher level education over the years. As inflation has grown, and even by other factors driven by the colleges desire for profit, the wages of the people have not substantially increased to accommodate for the rising prices. The rising costs can cause many people, even those who would be considered middle class, to not go to college due to the immense costs, regardless of race. Another issue that is not brought up very well is that of the state of public education in high school in certain states. As represented in the article, though not fully enforced by all of the states listed potentially due to other factors, through showing that Louisiana lowest graduating states and Virginia being one of the highest is very consistent with some personal experiences of mine. A friend of mine, who went to school here in middle school and then moved to Louisiana in high school, has told me very much of how limited public school education is there, and the level at which they perform is much lower than that of Virginians. This would cause some of the college goers to have a hard time educationally in their classes.

1c. Comment on the various statistics which were used throughout the article and state whether the statistics provided enough evidence to support the writer's position. If you were to write a similar article, which statistics would you collect that the writer did not mention, and why would you collect them? What would be the importance of the statistics?

I believe the statistics used were quite supportive of the writers position. I do not believe there was much answer as how to fix the issue, but mostly highlighting the fact that there is an issue with the American education system. This problem is also shown to be connected to race as well, which is a worrying sign. If I were to write a similar article, I would collect statistics outside of the United States, so as to show a comparison to the outside world. If we rank so low on education compared to many other comparable countries, why do we claim to be the best? Granted, it would be important to show relevancy to other countries education programs, such that we would be able to say the level of education is similar and that other factors are the issue, not the difficulty of the content (though I would argue most foreign programs are more difficult regardless). I would try to collect the same statistics in the article for these other countries, to show more of a position that if America as a whole needs education reform, something can and should be done about it.

1d. Based on your review of the article, provide alternatives to the author's view, that you believe are the most significant indicators of the failure to earn a college degree within six years.

I would agree with many of the indicators mentioned in the article. Especially as a tool to see the problems of the education system in America. Though, as mentioned prior, I think that the price of education skyrocketing is a primary indicator that people will have a hard time to graduate within 6 years. As prices raise and wages stagnate, many people must work while going to school. That would force many to go to school part time so as to have time to work enough to afford school. Many do not like taking out student loans to pay for it and would rather work and pay out of pocket. Another indicator would be that of the quality of education in high school varying from state to state. If you are not prepared for the level of difficulty provided in college, dropping out seems to be a much easier choice.

2a. Choose or develop an independent and a dependent variable related to the information. Clearly state how you would collect data related to the variables and describe the type of relationship you would expect to see from simple linear regression analysis. Please note that simple regression analysis requires quantitative variables that can be measured. Race, gender, ethnicity etc., are not quantitative variables. Age, height, weight etc are quantitative variables.

For the dependent variable, one could choose the years in which it takes to complete a bachelor's degree. As this is the main issue brought up in the article, it would make sense to find how long it takes for a sample to achieve this goal. Whether the time shows between 4 and 6 years, or any length of time longer than 6 years, it would be important to know. This would have to be collected post-graduation as you wouldn't know until it's done. As for the independent variable, I think choosing income of the student would be a good choice. This would mainly be important for those paying out of pocket and without the help from family (or could include help from family as part of the income). This could be collected via their application process to the school. Once they have graduated(if they do), their income level should be still on file. I believe this would be a negative relationship, that as income increases, the years it takes to graduate decreases, assuming the students measured are somewhat same intelligence, which could be measured by things such as the SAT score. I think it would be this way, as those with lower income would need more time to be able to work and pay for school.

2b. Identify a significant moderating variable between your dependent and independent variable and explain the impact of the moderating variable. Explain how a college student, the college administration, and the Department of Education could benefit from your regression analysis and the specific variables you identified. State how your regression analysis could change the outcome for students.

As mentioned above, the education quality of the student, or intelligence, would be a good moderating variable. This moderating variable would make it so that if the student is smarter, the less likely they will be to fail a class, and therefore take a shorter amount of time to graduate given their income level is the same as another student. If they are less intelligent, the likelihood of failing, needing to repeat classes, or take remedial classes would increase, thus increasing the amount of time needing to be in school, and increasing the cost which a lower income person would not be able to afford. Assuming it is found that income has a play on how long it takes to graduate, it would first have to start at the Department of Education to do something, such as making public colleges be free (since some of our tax dollars go to public colleges). They could make education more standardized, which would change the disparity in college education quality, giving more people fair chances at the same paying jobs after graduation. College administration would then be able to get their money to improve the school, pay for professors, etc. from the government rather than directly from the pockets of its students, and it would significantly benefit the college student be free from the burden of having to pay out of pocket at ridiculous rates.

2c. You are now the president of a university. Describe the actions you would take, based on the analysis you completed.

As the hypothetical president, one in my position would be against my personal solution as it would take away from their profits. As to avoid that outcome, and reduce the years someone might go to "my" school, one might only accept higher income students so as the help guarantee their lower likelihood of taking longer than 6 years to graduate. This, however, is seriously immoral. My next actions(if college isn't made free) would most likely be to reduce the cost of my school, so to make it easier to go to school full time and overall take less time going to school. Another action would be to make the cost of a semester be standardized(and lower than current) for fulltime students regardless of credit hours above 12 credit hours, and proportionally cost less for below 12 credit hours. That way, someone who wants to graduate faster can take more classes, if they don't need to work during, to finish faster. Or someone who still would need to/want to work can take less classes and not have to pay exorbitant prices. These responses are the morally right things to do, given the correct regression analysis of the above variables, but realistically would not, and have not, happened.