The Editor of a Major Academic Book Publisher Claims That

question 75

Essay

The editor of a major academic book publisher claims that a large part of the cost of books is the cost of paper. This implies that larger books will cost more money. As an experiment to analyse the claim, a university student visits the bookstore and records the number of pages and the selling price of 12 randomly selected books. These data are listed below. $$\begin{array} { | c | c | c | } \hline \text { Book } & \text { Number of pages } & \text { Selling price (\$) } \\\hline 1 & 844 & 55 \\\hline 2 & 727 & 50 \\\hline 3 & 360 & 35 \\\hline 4 & 915 & 60 \\\hline 5 & 295 & 30 \\\hline 6 & 706 & 50 \\\hline 7 & 410 & 40 \\\hline 8 & 905 & 53 \\\hline 9 & 1058 & 65 \\\hline 10 & 865 & 54 \\\hline 11 & 677 & 42 \\\hline 12 & 912 & 58 \\\hline\end{array}$$ Determine the coefficient of determination, and discuss what its value tells you.

---

Definitions:

Monotonic Preferences

A preference pattern where more of a good is always preferred to less, maintaining a consistent order.

Utility Function

A mathematical representation of how different combinations of goods or services lead to different levels of happiness or satisfaction for an individual.

Income

Earnings from work or investments, often measured in terms of money received over a period of time.

Utility Function

A mathematical representation of how different quantities of goods or services generate levels of happiness or satisfaction to the consumer.