Fictional data

Consider the (fictional) data in the file C03_02.xlsx. For several hundred couples, it lists their education level, their annual combined salary, the market value of their home and cars, the amount of savings they have accumulated (in savings accounts, stocks, retirement accounts, and so on), and a self-reported “social climber index” on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being very unconcerned about social status and material items and 10 being very concerned about these). Prepare a report based on these data, supported by relevant charts and/or tables, that could be used in a book such as The Millionaire Next Door. Your conclusions can either support or contradict those of Stanley and Danko.

  1. Create a correlation (see section 3-4b from your textbook) table of the 6 variables (don’t include couple). You can use Excel Data Analysis ToolPak to perform this procedure (see Module 2: Video_chapter 3)
  2. Construct 2 scatter plots: (a) savings vs. salary, and (b) SC index vs salary. How are they related? Make sure to interpret your findings.