Obtain an appropriate graphical summary of the data.
Obtain tests that compare fitting the four mean functions discussed in Section 5.1.3 with the 16 bins. How many parameters are in each of the mean functions?
Land valuation (Data file: prod score) Taxes on farmland enrolled in a “Green Acres” program in metropolitan Minneapolis–St. Paul are valued only with respect to the land’s value as productive farmland; the fact that a shopping center or industrial park has been built nearby cannot enter into the valuation. This creates difficulties because almost all sales, which are the basis for setting assessed values, are priced according to the development potential of the land, not its value as farmland. A method of equalizing valuation of land of comparable quality was needed.
One method of equalization is based on a soil productivity score P, a number between 1, for very poor land, and 100, for the highest quality agricultural land. The data in the file prodscore, provided by Douglas Tiffany, give P along with Value, the average assessed value, the Year, either 1981 or 1982, and the County name for four counties in Minnesota, Le Sueur, Meeker, McLeod, and Sibley, where development pressures had little effect on assessed value of land in 1981–1982. The unit of analysis is a township, roughly 6 miles square. The goal of analysis is to decide if soil productivity score is a good predictor of assessed value of farmland. Be sure to examine county and year differences, and write a short summary that would be of use to decision makers who need to determine if this method can be used to set property taxes.