ECON1193 – Business Statistics 1, Semester 1, 2023

Assessment #1: Individual case study on Descriptive Statistics (20%)

Due: Week 4, March 27, Monday, 5:00 PM

Assessment Details
You will be required to work with TWO assigned countries from the Excel file that your lecturer
assigned. There is an excel file with data set of foreign direct investment, net inflows for a set of
countries including the two countries you will be assigned.
• Your report should not exceed 1500 words (this includes the specific word limits in
various assessment parts and words in tables and figures) (references excluded).
• Provide all your answers to a maximum of 3 decimal places.
• It is compulsory to specify the word count on the cover page.
• There is a penalty of 2 marks for every 100 words exceeded.
• The report should be written and submitted in Microsoft Word only; no PDF submission
is accepted.
• There is a penalty of 10% of the grade received for every picture/screenshot of the
graphs or tables provided in the report. Hence, make sure you are not providing any
pictures or screenshots to avoid this penalty. The ONLY exception is the online graphing
tool for the Box-and-Whisker plot where its screenshot is accepted.
• The font used should be Times New Roman 12pt. Include page numbers in either the
footer or the header.
• Avoid plagiarizing – RMIT considers this a serious offense.

Submission Details
Submit the following TWO items to Canvas:
1. Word file (via Turnitin)
2. Excel file (The Excel file will NOT be marked). Copy all relevant graphs/tables into the
word file.

ECON1193 – Assessment #1 (Individual Case Study), Semester 1, 2023 Page 1 of 3

Case study question

Which country is the better destination to attract FDI inflow?

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is an ownership stake in a foreign company or project made by an
investor, company, or government from another country across different sectors. Companies that
making FDI can expand their footprints into international markets while the recipient country of
FDI can get financing to grow economy. Various economic and financial factors can influence the
changes of FDI inflow of countries. The Excel file attached in Canvas contains the World Bank
dataset of FDI, net inflows (% of GDP) (hereinafter as FDINI) from 1996 to 2020 for a set of
countries including the two countries you have been assigned.

Complete all the following analyses to decide which country is the better destination to
attract FDI inflow?

1. Introduce your analysis report with a brief overview of the global FDI flows over the past few
decades. The introduction should be supported by reliable sources, i.e., academic journal
research articles, newspaper articles, or any reliable websites. The introduction should not
contain analysis from the data set.
Recommended word limit: 350 words

2. Using the data provided, analyze the FDINI of your two assigned countries. Your analysis
must contain the following (use Excel):

a. Draw the line chart for the FDINI of both countries. Provide your analysis.

b. (i) Provide a table of comparison with all measures of Central Tendency for the FDINI
of both countries.
(ii) From your answers in (i), analyze the FDINI of both countries using only the BEST
measure. Explain why you choose the BEST measure.

c. (i) Provide a table of comparison with all measures of Variation of the FDINI of both
countries.
(ii) Justify the best measure among the FDINI of both countries and explain your
decision. Analyze the FDINI of both countries using only the BEST measure.

d. Report the frequency distribution table and draw the Histograms of the FDINI of both
countries and provide your analysis.

e. Draw the Box-and-Whisker Plot of the FDINI of both countries and provide your
analysis.

ECON1193 – Assessment #1 (Individual Case Study), Semester 1, 2023 Page 2 of 3

3. Write a conclusion to support your answer to the case study question. Support your answer
with at least three results you have found in Part 2. Write your conclusion in an unbiased
manner that a non-technical audience can understand.

4. Discuss how your conclusion from Part 3 connected with your discussion in Part 1. Justify
your answer.

5. Discuss two economic/finance factors and two social factors (4 factors in total) that influence
the changes of FDINI for each of the two assigned countries.

6. A business manager suspects that one of the FDINI of both assigned countries follows a similar
trend as the world’s FDINI from 1996 to 2020 (refer the last row of the data in the same
Excel file). Justify your comment with supports from your results in Part 2.

- End of Assessment -

ECON1193 – Assessment #1 (Individual Case Study), Semester 1, 2023 Page 3 of 3