Refer to the following data set for nurse staffing hours in Hospital XYZ. 

a. Using the latest period or naive method, compute the forecast for nurse staffing hours in 2012. 

b. Model the time series using Excel’s TREND function. Using Excel, compute the three-year and five-year moving averages for the data set from question 1 and determine the expected nurse staffing hours for 2012. Now compute a three-year weighted moving average using ½, , and for the weights of the most recent, second most recent, and third most recent periods. Using Excel, create an exponentially smoothed model from the data set in question 1. Assume α = 0.1.

1992 34,084 1997 41,008 2002 47,000 2007 70,456 1993 37,051 1998 41,817 2003 51,206 2008 87,865 1994 36,845 1999 46,815 2004 78,456 2009 75,084 1995 37,815 2000 45,845 2005 62,559 2010 77,615 1996 39,908 2001 46,036 2006 68,048 2011 81,084