A Study of Families
File Name:  FAMILY.SAV

Problem:   There has been considerable interest in the relationship between the amount of income that families earn and how much the family spends on food.  This is important for two reasons.  First, food helps to insure that children will grow well and, second; the more food the greater the likelyhood of better health.  The current data was gathered from existing data and is used to address, early on, the extent of  the relationship between food expenses and family income.

During the early 1970's, data were collected from 75 families located in a small town.
The variables in this study are:

 foodexp       Food Expenses (value * $1000)

 income        Family Income (value * $1000)

 famsize        Number of dependent children

 age              Age of oldest parent

 ownrent       Determine whether family owns or rent [0  =  Rent; 1  =  Own]

The Study:  Since this is an original and highly preliminary data, it was culled from existing reports.  There are a total of 75 families that were investigated and who were selected at random for participation.    In the study, graduate students were sent to a small town where they were to gather specific data using a survey form.  The actual interview lasted only ten to fifteen minutes.  The majority of the time was spent working to establish rapport and to answer questions.

The Question:  Analyze the data in the following ways to judge the degree of relationship between food expenses and other variables.   Using SPSS, you will need to perform several different analyses.
 

Use the following SPSS trails to generate the results....

Summaries  -->  Descriptives
 Select  foodexp and income [suggest that you include the descriptive statistics plus boxplot]

Correlate  -->  Bivariate correlations
 Select the variables foodexp and income

Graph  -->  Scatterplot - simple
 Place the income on the X-axis [explanatory variable] and feedexp on the Y-axis [response variable]

Regression --> Linear    [no special stats, plots, or options]
    Dependent variable = foodexp
    Independent varialble  =  income

The Results and Interpretation:  Include within your results those figures and tables that report information about relationship between food expenses and income.   Include in your interpretation the regression formula with an example.  For example, choose an income of $30,000.00.   What is the expected amount of dollars for food in the family?  Finally, what is the implication of these results for families and jobs [this certainly deals with social issues]?
 

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