RevolutionToast Posted August 5, 2014 Report Share Posted August 5, 2014 (edited) I've been doing my Extended Essay in Economics about the market structure of the internet service providers in my city and i've come across a slight problem. I'm collecting information on the data offered by the internet service providers and the price they set for that data. A hypothetical example of the situation i've come across is: Company A offers 8gb of data for $15. Company B offers 10gb of data for $20. Now I'm wondering whether I should leave that data like that in my raw data table or whether I should convert it where I find how much it would cost Company B to offer 1gb of data by dividing 20/10 and then to make it the same as Company A, I multiply it by 8, which gives me $16. The reason why i'm thinking of doing so is because I don't think it would be a very good argument when I say that company A's offer is cheaper when the data table shows different prices for different amounts of data. I'd greatly appreciate your input on this. Edited August 5, 2014 by RevolutionToast Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrashmaster Posted August 5, 2014 Report Share Posted August 5, 2014 Okay, so to be clear, you're just want to show the 1 gb/ $ price, right? I don't see any problem with that whatsoever. I would probably include the originals and then immediately convert it to 1 gb / $, but if in doubt, I think just change it. Another option might be to include an appendix with the raw data and conversion? Let's see if someone else who has done an econ EE knows. But so long as you're just doing math on it, there isn't anything wrong about that. If you are actually changing the data to prove your point, that would be wrong. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevolutionToast Posted August 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2014 Okay, so to be clear, you're just want to show the 1 gb/ $ price, right? I don't see any problem with that whatsoever. I would probably include the originals and then immediately convert it to 1 gb / $, but if in doubt, I think just change it. Another option might be to include an appendix with the raw data and conversion? Let's see if someone else who has done an econ EE knows. But so long as you're just doing math on it, there isn't anything wrong about that. If you are actually changing the data to prove your point, that would be wrong. Yup, that's what I was going for. Thank you Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negotiation Posted August 5, 2014 Report Share Posted August 5, 2014 It is definitely better to show price/GB than price alone when the data amounts differ. However, you have to be careful, as the increase in price as data increases generally isn't linear, i.e. it'll be cheaper per GB to buy 1TB than 10GB. Definitely don't start comparing, say, 500GB with 100GB rates, but if they're as close as 8 & 10GB you might be okay, though you should discuss this as an error in your procedure. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.