Economic Data

Question 1

What is economic data collected for

Answer 1

Collected not only to verify or refute economic models but to provide a basis for economic decision making

Question 2

How is economic data expressed in prices ?

Answer 2

At nominal (current) prices or at real (or constant) prices

Data expressed in real terms take into account the effects of inflation

Question 3

What are indices used for

Answer 3

Used to simplify statistics and to express averages

Question 4

How is data presented

Answer 4

In a variety of forms such as tables or graphs

Question 5

How should data be interpreted

Answer 5

With care given that data can be selected and presented in a wide variety of ways

Question 6

Why do economists collect data for the scientific method

Answer 6

The scientific method requires that theories be tested

Data is needed to refute or support a theory

Question 7

Why do economists collect data for particular policies

Answer 7

Economists are often required to provide support for particular policies - without data it’s often difficult or impossible to make policy recommendations

Question 8

How easy is economic data to collect usually?

Answer 8

Very difficult and sometimes impossible

Question 9

How reliable are surveys

Answer 9

Meh, they’re only reliable if there is accurate sampling and measuring and are rarely as accurate as a complete count

Question 10

What is the consumer prices index used for

Answer 10

Used to measure inflation

Based on surveys

Question 11

What’s the labour force survey used for

Answer 11

Used to measure employment or unemployment

Based on surveys

Question 12

How can one test a hypothesis

Answer 12

Test it on a small sample and though it doesn’t definitively prove the whole hypothesis is true but
Ylu can say “the data tends to refute or support the theory”

Question 13

What value is used for most items like coal and oil instead of kg and litres

Answer 13

In monetary terms may have as pounds sterling

Question 14

What’s the problem in using money as a measure

Answer 14

Inflation erodes the purchasing power of money

Question 15

What is inflation

Answer 15

The general change in prices in an economy

Question 16

What are nominal values

Answer 16

Values unadjusted for inflation

Expressed at current prices - at level of prices existing during the time period being measured

Question 17

What are real values or constant prices

Answer 17

If data are adjusted for inflation, then they are said to be at real values or at constant prices

Question 18

How are real values made

Answer 18

Adjusted to inflation

To do this in practice involves taking one period of time as the base period

Data are then adjusted assuming that prices were the same throughout as in the base period

Question 19

Why is a lot of data converted into index number

Answer 19

It’s important in economics to compare values than to know absolute values

Question 20

What is the index form / how is it made

Answer 20

One time period is chosen as the base period and the rest of these statistics in the series are compared to the value in that base period

Value in the base period usually 100 - Chosen as its easy to work with mathematically I