Case Study Assignment

Conduct an online research to obtain an array of data over a period of time for a trend of your interest. For example, the data could be the number of smartphone users from 2005 to 2012, or the number of Verizon's FTTH subscribers from the launch of their FiOS service to 2012, or the number of security breaches on government agencies from 2000 to 2012, or the number on worldwide Internet users from 1992 to 2012. 1. We want to enter the data array into Excel, and plot the corresponding graph showing the variation of the data in time, labeling the vertical axis (data) as Y, and the horizontal axis (time) as X. X could be in years, months, days, etc. 2. We want to use Excel graphing utilities to extract a function Y(X) to model the data variation, e.g., Y(X)=0.25X+12.2; or Y(X)=X2+2X+1, X>0. One objective of the Y(X) model is to estimate a prediction of the trend Y into a near future X. Write a Word document to describe the subject briefly, present the data acquired (in a table), show the resulting graph and Y(X) model obtained from Excel, and discuss the data and model. The document is required to: • be at least 3 pages long (excluding name and references page), double spaced, 11 point font • have at least 3 references, listed and cited in APA format Note: while Excel is the preferred tool in this assignment, you may use a different tool to achieve the same goal provided that you can embed the graph into the Word document, and explain how the model is derived.