This activity is a project that can be carried out in a team of two students. It provides an exercise in searching for data and building a model using the U.S. Census data (census.gov). Check for the latest data showing the annual number of New Housing Starts or New Residential Construction (these names reflect the same information). Now, search for data related to retail sales. In particular, try to find data on durable goods sales like furniture and home furnishing retailer sales. Also, find data on motor vehicle sales and grocery store sales. Build a data set that includes all of these variables being careful to match them time-wise (annually, for example, by year). Much of the data can be downloaded into a spreadsheet file or as plain text. Think about these variables. Presuming you are in the retail furniture business, build a regression model that explains the relationship between new residential construction and sales in your industry. How good is the model you developed for explanatory purposes? How good is it for predictive purposes? Prepare a report that summarizes all your findings.
