Are geography journals worth their cost? In Geoforum (Vol. 37, Nov. 2006), Simon Fraser…

Are geography journals worth their cost? In Geoforum (Vol. 37, Nov. 2006), Simon Fraser University professor Nicholas Blomley assessed whether the price of a geography journal is correlated with quality. He collected pricing data (cost for a 1-year subscription, in U.S. dollars) for a sample of 28 geography journals. In addition to cost, three other variables were measured: journal impact factor (JIF), defined as the average number of times articles from the journal have been cited; number of citations for a journal over the past five years; and relative price index (RPI), a measure developed by economists. [ Note: A journal with an RPI less than 1.25 is considered a “good value.”] The data for the 28 geography journals are saved in the GEOJRNL file. (Selected observations are shown in the table on page 91.)

a. Construct a scatterplot for the variables JIF and cost. Do you detect a trend?

b. Construct a scatterplot for the variables number of cites and cost. Do you detect a trend?

c. Construct a scatterplot for the variables RPI and cost. Do you detect a trend?