Hw 6 Q1: "In general"

[emmdeegee]

Hi there,

Could I clarify the exact use of "in general", "increasing" and "decreasing" of Q1, please?

I don't want to discuss my exact answer, so I'll ask the question via another example, if that's OK: If I have a sequence

3,4,4,5,5

Does this sequence "In general, increase", or is there no trend?

(I'm asking for clarification of whether "increasing in general" is taken to exactly mean "always strictly increasing").

Thanks!

[dudefromdayton]

I would view your example 3,4,4,5,5 as generally increasing. In fact, it's even monotonic. And as it's certainly not decreasing, there is a trend.

[gah44]

Originally Posted by emmdeegee

(snip)
If I have a sequence

3,4,4,5,5

Does this sequence "In general, increase", or is there no trend?

(snip)
Thanks!

I would probably say that if you do linear regression to a line, with increasing integers for x, and the slope is positive then it "in general, increases."

Even if there are some small decreases along the way.

Similar to the way economists talk about the stock market, looking at long-term trends and ignoring daily (weekly, monthly, yearly) fluctuations.