| Course | BUS-2100 Quantitative Skills for Business |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 1 |
| Paper type | Module project 1: accuracy, dependability and integrity of quantitative information |
| Length | About 872 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | Bachelor of Science in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for BUS 2100 Module 1
Up 30 Percent or Barely Moved? Testing Two Wage Claims With BLS Data
Student Name
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Thomas Edison State University
BUS-2100: Quantitative Skills for Business
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
Up 30 Percent or Barely Moved? Testing Two Wage Claims With BLS Data
The Scenario
During contract talks at a composite regional distribution company, a union newsletter states that 'wages across America have risen 30 percent since 2019, and our members deserve the same,' while a management memo replies that 'workers' real pay has barely moved, so a large raise is not justified.' Both cite the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This project tests each claim with the same published data and shows how each side's figure can be accurate yet incomplete. Wisniewski and Shafti (2020) stress that decision makers should ask where numbers come from, how they were calculated and what they leave out before acting on them.
The Data
Two monthly series were downloaded from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: average hourly earnings of all employees on private nonfarm payrolls, seasonally adjusted (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026a), and the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, all items, U.S. city average (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026b). December values were used to compare full years. Real earnings, expressed in December 2019 dollars, equal nominal earnings divided by the ratio of each year's price index to the December 2019 index.
| December of | CPI-U (1982-84 = 100) | Price change (%) | Average hourly earnings ($) | Earnings change (%) | Real earnings (2019 $) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 256.974 | 28.38 | 28.38 | ||
| 2020 | 260.474 | 1.4 | 29.91 | 5.4 | 29.51 |
| 2021 | 278.802 | 7.0 | 31.39 | 4.9 | 28.93 |
| 2022 | 296.797 | 6.5 | 32.94 | 4.9 | 28.52 |
| 2023 | 306.746 | 3.4 | 34.29 | 4.1 | 28.73 |
| 2024 | 315.605 | 2.9 | 35.69 | 4.1 | 29.06 |
| 2025 | 324.054 | 2.7 | 37.02 | 3.7 | 29.36 |
Testing the Union's Claim
Nominal average hourly earnings rose from $28.38 to $37.02, an increase of 30.4 percent. The union's figure is therefore accurate as a statement about dollars. It is incomplete because prices rose 26.1 percent over the same period, from an index of 256.974 to 324.054. A raise that merely matched the national nominal increase would not tell members whether they can buy more than they could in 2019, and national averages may differ from the company's local labor market.
Testing Management's Claim
Real average hourly earnings rose from $28.38 to $29.36 in 2019 dollars, an increase of 3.4 percent over six years, or a little over half a percent a year. The memo's phrase 'barely moved' is a fair description of the full period. But the path matters. Real earnings fell from $29.51 in December 2020 to $28.52 in December 2022 as prices rose 7.0 and 6.5 percent in successive years while nominal pay rose 4.9 percent each year. Workers lost purchasing power for two years and only regained the 2020 level in 2025. Management's figure is accurate for the endpoints but hides that loss, which is exactly what employees remember.
A Composition Effect in 2020
The 2020 figures need caution. Average hourly earnings jumped from $28.73 in March 2020 to $30.04 in April 2020, a 4.6 percent rise in one month. Pay rates did not suddenly rise; millions of lower-paid workers, especially in restaurants and retail, lost their jobs at the start of the pandemic, so the average of those still employed rose. This is a composition effect: an average changes because the group being averaged changes. Using December 2020 as a starting point would overstate earnings and make later real growth look weaker. Huff (1954) warned long ago that an average can mislead when the reader does not know who is in it.
Percent and Percentage Points
A second management memo says inflation 'fell 4.3 percent' from 2021 to 2025. Inflation fell from 7.0 percent to 2.7 percent, which is a decline of 4.3 percentage points; in percent terms the inflation rate fell by about 61 percent. Confusing the two is one of the most common errors in reporting rates, and it can make a change look smaller or larger than it is.
A Missing Observation
The downloaded price series has no value for October 2025. The bureau did not publish an October 2025 index after a lapse in federal funding interrupted data collection that month. Any annual average for 2025 calculated from the monthly figures therefore rests on 11 months, and a spreadsheet that treats the blank as zero would understate 2025 prices badly. This project avoids the problem by using December values, but an analyst using annual averages should flag the gap.
A Fair Basis for Negotiation
A spreadsheet built from these series lets both sides test their own proposals. If the company's own pay rose in line with national average hourly earnings, a raise of about 3 percent a year would roughly keep pace with recent inflation, while restoring purchasing power lost in 2021 and 2022 would require more. Local data, such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage estimates for the company's metropolitan area and occupations, would sharpen the comparison, since national averages mix many industries and regions.
Conclusion
Both claims are numerically accurate and both mislead by omission. The union's 30 percent ignores prices, and management's 'barely moved' ignores two years of lost purchasing power and the 2020 composition effect that inflates the base. A fair basis for negotiation is real earnings over the full period, with the 2021 to 2022 decline shown explicitly and local pay data added where available.
References
Huff, D. (1954). How to lie with statistics. W. W. Norton.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026a). Average hourly earnings of all employees, total private (CES0500000003) [Data set]. U.S. Department of Labor.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026b). Consumer price index for all urban consumers, all items, U.S. city average (CUUR0000SA0) [Data set]. U.S. Department of Labor.
Wisniewski, M., & Shafti, F. (2020). Quantitative analysis for decision makers (7th ed.). Pearson.
What the BUS 2100 Module 1 instructions ask for
BUS-2100 requires six module projects, one per module and worth 30 percent of the grade together, alongside nine discussions, six quizzes and three proctored exams spread across the term. Several projects use real data or case scenarios and ask for Excel charts or tables with interpretation. For Module 1, the focus is whether quantitative information can be trusted. Identify the source of each figure, recalculate it, and check definitions, base periods, adjustments for inflation, the difference between percent and percentage points, and any gaps in the data. Write objectively in the third person and support each judgment with a number. Include the table in a form that could be rebuilt in a spreadsheet.
How the BUS 2100 Module 1 example is put together
The project begins with a realistic dispute so the analysis has a purpose. It names the exact data series used, shows the calculation for real earnings and lays out the results in a table that could be rebuilt in Excel. Each claim is tested separately, and the paper credits what is accurate before identifying what is missing. Three integrity problems, a composition effect, a percent versus percentage-point error and a missing observation, each receive a short section with numbers. The conclusion judges both claims evenly and proposes a fairer measure. Every statement in the paper is tied to a figure, as the course expects. Read it for the habit of checking before concluding.
BUS 2100 Module 1 rubric: what earns full marks
Each BUS-2100 module project receives a percentage mark. Mentors look for correct calculations, appropriate use of data sources, clear tables or charts, and a reading of the results that ties them to a decision. In Module 1, they reward attention to data integrity: definitions, base periods, inflation adjustment, sampling or composition issues and missing values. Each judgment should rest on a calculation shown in the paper. Objective third-person writing, correct citations of data sources and a clear conclusion complete the grade. Papers that repeat a statistic without checking it, or that report false precision, lose points. Showing the arithmetic behind each figure lets mentors award credit even where a final answer differs.
BUS 2100 Module 1 help from the desk
A common mistake is treating any figure from a reputable source as automatically meaningful, without asking what it measures. Another is confusing nominal and real values or percent and percentage-point changes. Our writers can prepare BUS 2100 module projects using the data your module provides. Start by recording each series' exact name, units and adjustments. Rebuild every figure in a spreadsheet from the raw data, convert to real terms where prices matter, and check for gaps or unusual jumps. Then write one sentence per finding that a manager could understand, and state which claim the evidence supports. Finally, keep the raw download so every figure can be traced.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Thomas Edison State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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BUS 2100 Module 1 questions, answered
Where can I find a free BUS 2100 Module 1 sample paper?
The first Quantitative Skills for Business module project appears above, testing two wage claims with Bureau of Labor Statistics earnings and price data.
What is the difference between nominal and real wages?
Nominal wages are dollar amounts; real wages adjust for inflation by dividing by a price index, showing changes in purchasing power.
What is a composition effect?
A change in an average caused by a change in who is included, such as average pay rising in 2020 because many lower-paid workers lost their jobs.
How is a percentage-point change different from a percent change?
A fall in inflation from 7.0 to 2.7 percent is a 4.3 percentage-point decline but about a 61 percent decline in the rate itself.
How many module projects does BUS-2100 have?
Six, one per module, worth 30 percent of the course grade together.