Want to get involved? We're always looking for ideas and content for Weekly Challenges.
SUBMIT YOUR IDEAMy solution.
Fun challenge. Answer: 2096 (assuming linear trend)
Looking for trends and finding the truth in the data is sort of my thing, so I got drawn in to this one. After doing the basic graph I took the following steps:
1) Convert the % into an index against the total % in full time employment - this removes any other economic trends/shocks (such as the 2008 financial crisis) which muddy the water
2) Plot these indexes to get a visual idea of the trends - clear steady rise in women in full time employment and corresponding decline in men as would expect. However, there is a step change in both in 1994. This suggests a change in the way the figures were recorded (as we have already removed any genuine economic shocks in step 1). It is therefore necessary to allow for this step change or (more simply) only take the data from 1994 onward. I took the latter option as that still leaves over 20 years of data, which is probably preferable to extrapolate from anyway, rather than the entire period.
3) Use the Linear Regression tool to create the equation of both lines, then solve algebraically.
Here is my solution:
Here is my submission; it contains both actual value and trend line.