Practice Questions for Research, Statistics and Finance

Answer the below four questions using information given in each question;

Students need show key working and brief explanation in order to get full mark for each question. It is not enough to get full mark for each question if only the result is presented;

Students are allowed to use calculators and Excel to answer these questions;

Answers should be presented in Word document for submission;

ONLY ONE Word file is allowed to submit for marking;

If multiple files are submitted, ONLY the first Word file will be marked.

You can include print screens of your excel working and formulas used.

Question 1

Abbi is a final year student in Bath Spa University doing her dissertation. After discussing with her supervisor, her research objective is to estimate the relationship between returns of stocks and level of risk of stocks (i.e. standard deviation of stock returns). Abbi is using primary data and secondary data for her research.

a.List 3 main sources to collect primary data and secondary data, respectively;  

b. Abbi collected the below data from Thomson Reuters Eikon of Tesco. How much is

c.What is the best type of chart to represent the variable Tesco Stock Price?

d.In her dissertation, Abbi states that primary data is qualitative data. Is it correct? If not, how would you explain to Abbi?

Question 2

Mike is a first year university student who is trying to understand his financial situation. Mike currently lives 1.5 miles away from campus. He works part time in a retail centre that pays him £800 per month. Mike saves £200 out of the part time job pay for his further education plan.

a.As to the below Travel Expenses table published by the Students’ Union, 185 students were randomly selected to help understand the travel expenses and distance to campus. What’s the probability for Mike to spend over £10 on journeys to campus?

b.How much is the frequency for students living over 1 mile away from the campus?

c.As to the category of Amount Spent, £, what is the modal group?

d.Assuming Mike is saving the same amount per month in the next 3 years. How much does Mike get for his saving after 3 years, if his saving account pays simple interest rate 3% per annum?  

e.Assuming Mike is saving the same amount per month in the next 3 years. How much does Mike get for his saving after 3 years, if his saving account pays compound interest rate 3% per annum?  

Question 3

After post-graduate study, Mike found a job as HR analyst in London. The company is currently recruiting Chief Marketing Officer. The HR department recently sent out a knowledge test to the applicants after the initial CV screening. At this stage of selection, the company does not invite the lowest scoring 30% back for the next face-to-face interview. According to the historical data, the test scores on this test are normally distributed and has a mean of 70 with standard deviation of 10.

a.What mark (to the nearest whole number) must a candidate achieve in order to secure an interview?

b.How much is the 95% confidence interval for the test scores?

c.The company offers free buffet lunch for candidates attending the interview.  As a HR analyst, Mike is asked to estimate the amount of salad to order for the interview day. Sampling suggests that the amount of salad taken by each candidate distributes as the below diagram. What is the distribution as described and probability density function of the distribution in the diagram? What is the probability of the blue area in the diagram?