Chapter 3.2, Problem 12PB

Broadband and GDP The Internet Use data file on the book’s website contains data on the number of individuals with broadband access and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 32 nations. Let x represent GDP (in billions of U.S. dollars) and y = number of broadband users (in millions).

1. a. The figure below shows a scatterplot. Describe this plot in terms of the association between broadband subscribers and GDP.
2. b. Give the approximate x- and y-coordinates for the nation that has the highest number of broadband subscribers.
3. c. Use software to calculate the correlation coefficient between the two variables. What is the sign of the coefficient? Explain what the sign means in the context of the problem.
4. d. Identify one nation that appears to have fewer broadband subscribers than you might expect, based on that nation’s GDP, and one that appears to have more.
5. e. If you recalculated the correlation coefficient after changing GDP from U.S. dollar to euro, would the correlation coefficient change? Explain.