Students at a certain school were​ surveyed, and it was estimated that 19​% of college students abstain from drinking alcohol. To estimate this proportion in your​ school, how large a random sample would you need to estimate it to within 0.08 with probability 0.99​, if before conducting the study​ (a) you are unwilling to predict the proportion value at your school and​ (b) you use the results from the surveyed school as a guideline.

a. n=

b. n=

Meteorologists have tracked the total annual rainfall in the town of Spring Valley year after year, and found that it follows a normal distribution. The average annual rainfall is 18 inches, with a standard deviation of 6 inches. In one particular year, only 9 inches of rain fell. You work for the local newspaper, and your editor has asked you to write a story about the terrible drought the town is suffering from and how dire the situation is. Write a brief paragraph that you could use to explain the statistical facts to the newspaper readers. Include a comment on whether you agree that the situation is very abnormal. Make sure you use what you are learning about the normal distribution in your newspaper article.

Which of the following describes how property taxes work?

(Check all that apply.)

In solving the following problem :

The local bank pays 4% interest on savings deposits. In a nearby town, the bank pays 1% per quarter. A man who has $3000 to deposit wonders whether the higher interest paid in the nearby town justifies driving there.

1. How much will the man receive after 2 years if he used the local bank? The answer is closest to:

Q2)

What sum of money now is equivalent to $8250 two years hence, if interest is 4% per 6-month period? The answer is closest to:

Hint : 4% per 6 month means semi annual periods so the n does not equal 2 anymore !

Consider the Categorical Variable Education with the following categories: High School Only, Bachelor’s, Graduate Degree. The dependent variable in the Linear Regression is the amount contributed to political campaigns in the last election. Suppose Bachelor’s is the excluded category. The coefficient on High School Only is −$101.23. The coefficient on Graduate Degree is $20.45. What is the interpretation of the coefficient on High School Only?

Group of answer choices

People who stop at a Bachelor’s Degree contribute $101.23 less to political campaigns compared to a person with only a High School level of education

People who only have a High School level of education contribute $101.23 less to political campaigns compared to a person with a Graduate Degree

People who only have a High School level of education contribute $101.23 less to political campaigns compared to a person who stops at a Bachelor’s Degree

There is no way to determine from these results what the campaign contributions of people with only a High School level of education compares to people who stop at a Bachelor’s Degree

Please walk me through SPSS setup and complete the following, NOT just answer it, but show me how you did it on SPSS

Below are data for the number of students in each of four age groups that are enrolled in several local schools:

Using SPSS, create a separate Pie Chart of the age groups for each school. Which school has the largest percentage of pre-adolescents? Then create of Bar Graph of the total count of students in each age group that are enrolled in local schools (including the local International School). Which age group represents the largest percentage of local students?

Utilitarianism:

The Case of the

Cheating Law Student

The Case

You are a pre-law student who will graduate at the end of the current semester. Your academic record has been impressive. You have not only earned excellent grades but have accumulated a variety of scholastic merits as well as glowing accolades from professors and fellow peers.

Recently, you were informed from a highly selective law school that you have won a very prestigious scholarship. Although your tuition, books, and living costs will be covered by the scholarship, the benefits of this award reach far beyond the walls of the law school campus. Since the early 20th Century, the same New York City law firm has sponsored this scholarship with the ultimate goal of identifying and fostering new, young talent within the arena of jurisprudence. The winner of the scholarship is, upon graduation from law school, guaranteed a position in this well-known, established law firm.

Unfortunately, however, the last semester of your undergraduate career has proven to be an exhausting one. While you are doing well in three of your classes, your last pre-law required course – Introduction to Legal Ethics – is giving you great difficulty. You are very much in jeopardy of earning a grade in this class that will pull your grade average below the scholarship requirement. In order for you to successfully secure the scholarship, your final term paper must be of ‘A+’ quality. Despite all your hard work and the extra help you have received throughout the semester, it is apparent that your term paper is not quite good enough to earn you the needed grade.

Moreover, your situation is compounded by the fact that your family cannot afford to put you through law school. Therefore, without this scholarship, your goal of becoming a lawyer will never be fulfilled. What is more, your mother is extremely ill and your younger brother, due to a serious learning disability, is in dire need of a private tutor. Both your mother’s medication and your brother’s tutorials will cost more than your family can afford. However, if you receive the scholarship, it is very likely that you will be able to help your father acquire what your mother and brother need.

After a great deal of thought, you make the decision to purchase an ‘A+’ paper from someone else and to submit it as your own work. In the end, the paper you handed in earned you the required ‘A+’, thus guaranteeing that you will win the prestigious law school scholarship.

Things to Consider:

i. How would an Act Utilitarian construe the moral acceptability of your actions?

ii. How would a Rule Utilitarian construe the moral acceptability of your actions?

Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and Services Company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded in 1985, Kenneth Lay was the founder of the company, first founded in Omaha Nebraska and then it moved to Houston Texas .Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, Enron employed approximately 20,000 staff and was one of the world's major electricity, natural gas, communications and pulp and paper companies, with claimed revenues of nearly $101 billion during 2000.

Enron’s line of business:

Enron was originally involved in transmitting and distributing electricity and natural gas throughout the United States. The company developed, built and operated power plants and pipeline. Enron owned large network of natural gas pipeline, which stretched ocean to ocean and border to border. Enron traded in more than 30 different products, including the following: Petrochemicals, Plastics, Power, Pulp and paper, Steel, Weather Risk Management, Oil and LNG transportation, Broadband, Principal Investments, Risk management for commodities, Shipping / freight, Water and wastewater. It was also an extensive futures trader, including sugar, coffee, grains, hogs, and other meat futures.

Review of Enron’s Rise and fall:

Throughout the late 1990s, Enron was considered one of the most innovative companies in the world. The company continued to build power plants and operate gas lines, but it became better known for its unique trading businesses. Besides buying and selling gas and electricity. it created whole new markets for such oddball "commodities" as broadcast time for advertisers, weather futures, and Internet bandwidth. Before it bankrupted in late 2001, its annual revenues rose from about $9 billion in 1995 to over $100 billion in 2000.

At the end of 2001 it was revealed that its reported financial condition was sustained substantially by institutionalized, systematic, and creatively planned accounting fraud. The Enron scandal was the biggest bankruptcy in United States history which cost 4,000 employees their jobs. On December 2, 2001 Enron filed for bankruptcy. It was an event that will always be remembered as one of the most disastrous events in the financial world.

The reasons for collapse of Enron company:

There are some reasons that lead to the collapse of Enron:

•Cheating and manipulation by the board of directors to achieve their personal interests at the expense of the interest of the company.

•That the board of director has delegated the task of reviewing the company’s transactions to a sub-committee within the company. The committee has only conducted a quick review of these transactions. The board of directors has concealed very important information whose knowledge may have led to some appropriate action.

•The company’s management inflated the company’s profit to about $ 1 billion by raising the profit by 586 million and hiding debit of $ 2.6 billion in the year before the company’s collapse.

•The loss of the members of the audit committee is independent and neutral because of the enormous they charge from the administration and may reach up to $380000 per year per member.

With the fall of Enron, the financial auditor ARTHER ANDERSON fell for his role in this process, culminating in the company’s disposal of most of the city document. But Enron’s scandal has prompted the US government to amend a number of market laws, most notably issuing legislation allowing employee to sell their shares three years after they own them, and more importantly, the Sarbanes-Oxley act, which explicitly tightens penalties for such crimes. The CEO and CFO are fully responsible for any manipulation of the financial statement. In September 2008, Enron shareholders won the lawsuit against the company and received $7.2 billion damages, the biggest settlement in the history of fraud involving listed company.

Questions:

a.Explain how the dramatic collapse of Enron has severely shaken the U.S. Capital markets in

2001.                                                                                                                                                

b.Suggest the measures that could be taken to restore the credibility of the accounting profession and investor confidence in the financial reporting process.                

Question 2

Describe the Financial Reporting practices followed in Oman quoting some practical instances. Also highlight the principles that govern the financial practices in Oman and the Organizations that form regulatory frame work in Oman.                                              

CASE STUDY:

"BMW is the ultimate driving machine. Manufactured by the German company Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, BMW stands for both performance and luxury. The company was founded in 1916 as an aircraft-engine manufacturer and produced engines during World Wars I and II. It evolved into a motorcycle and automobile maker by the mid-20th century, and today it is an internationally respected company and brand with $106 billion in sales in 2012. BMW’s logo is one of the most distinctive and globally recognised symbols ever created. The signature BMW roundel looks like a spinning propeller blade set against a blue sky background—originally thought to be a tribute to the company’s founding days as an aircraft-engine manufacturer. Recently, however, a New York Times reporter revealed that the logo, which features the letters BMW at the top of the outer ring and blue-and-white checkered design in the inner ring, was trademarked in 1917 and meant to show the colors of the Free State of Bavaria, where the company is headquartered. BMW’s growth exploded in the 1980s and 1990s, when it successfully targeted the growing market of baby boomers and professional yuppies who put work first and wanted a car that spoke of their success. BMW gave them sporty sedans with exceptional performance and a brand that stood for prestige and achievement. The cars, which came in a 3, 5, or 7 Series, were basically the same design in three sizes. It was at this time that yuppies made Beemer and Bimmer the slang terms for BMW’s cars and motorcycles, popular names still used today. At the turn of the century, consumers’ attitudes toward cars changed. Research showed that they cared less about the bragging rights of the BMW brand and instead desired a variety of design, size, price, and style choices. As a result, the company took several steps to grow its product line by targeting specific market segments. This resulted in unique premium-priced cars such as SUVs, convertibles, and roadsters, as well as less expensive compact cars like the 1 Series. In addition, BMW redesigned its 3, 5, and 7 Series cars, making them unique in appearance yet maintaining their exceptional performance. BMW’s full range of cars now includes the 1 Series, 3 Series, 5 Series, 6 Series, 7 Series, X Series, Z4 Roadster, M Series, Hybrids, and BMWi. BMW created the lower-priced 1 Series and X1 SUV to target the “modern mainstream,” a group who are also family-focused and active but had previously avoided BMWs because of their premium cost. The company nurtures these loyal consumers and continues to research, innovate, and reach out to specific segment groups year after year."

QUESTION:

Explain why this segmentation strategy works for BMW