Question

On November 14, 2019, Washington University and University of Texas A&M publicly launched their research efforts to collect information on over 10,000 dogs, (see https://dogagingproject.org/ (Links to an external site.)). The objective of this research effort is to collect data from dog owners across the USA to identify factors that may affect the life expectancy of canines. The dependent variable is ‘life expectancy of dogs as measured in years and months. The following variables were collected from dog owners:

• Breed of Dog
• Brand of food fed to dog
• Number of times dog is fed per day
• Veterinarian visits per year
• Owners median income
• Owners years of education
• Dog primarily stays outdoors or indoors.
• Marital status of owner

a. From the data collected, which variable(s) are best represented by a dummy variable(s)?

b. From the data collected, which variable is least likely to be relevant to the life expectancy of a dog and why?

c. From the data collected, which TWO variables are most likely to positively affect the life expectancy of a dog and why?

Answer 1

On November 14, 2019, Washington University and University of Texas A&M publicly launched their research efforts to collect information on over 10,000 dogs.

The objective of this research effort is to collect data from dog owners across the USA to identify factors that may affect the life expectancy of canines. The dependent variable is ‘life expectancy of dogs as measured in years and months.

The following variables were collected from dog owners:

• Breed of Dog
• Brand of food fed to dog
• Number of times dog is fed per day
• Veterinarian visits per year
• Owners median income
• Owners years of education
• Dog primarily stays outdoors or indoors.
• Marital status of owner

a) From the data collected, Number of times dog is fed per day, Dog primarily stays outdoors or indoors and Marital status of owner variables are best represented by a dummy variables.

b) From the data collected, Marital status of owner variable is least likely to be relevant to the life expectancy of a dog. Since it does not affect the life expectancy of a dog.

c) From the data collected, Number of times dog is fed per day and Owners median income these two variables are most likely to positively affect the life expectancy of a dog. Since the life expectancy of dog depends on the number of times god is per day and also on the owners median income.