Question

14. The cases for the following equation are the states of the United States.

Quality of Life = 5.37 - .01Temp + .05Income +.003SocialServices - .01Population.

Let’s pretend that the Temperature in North Dakota is 30 degrees and the temperature in Texas is 80 degrees (on average). Now let’s assume that there aren’t any variables that were left out of the equation (i.e., no other variables affect Quality of Life). Is it safe to assume that the quality of life in North Dakota is half a point worse than the quality of life in Texas? Please explain why or why not.

Answer 1

With the given equation, there are 4 factors that affect the quality of life: Temperature, Income, Social Services and Population.

Temperature in North Dakota is 30 degrees and the temperature in Texas is 80 degrees.

Contribution to quality of life by temperature in North Dakota is -0.01 x 30 = -0.3;

Contribution to quality of life by temperature in Texas is -0.01 x 80 = -0.8;

We can conclude that only from temperature perspective, quality of life in Texas is half a point worse than the quality of life in Texas (and not the other way round as given in the question). But there are 3 other factors to be considered for the overall quality of life.