Final answer:
Collecting cost data can pose issues such as data unavailability, irregularities in the object being measured, impacts from situation-specific external factors, and the incompatibility of cost units for graph representation.
Step-by-step explanation:
When collecting cost data on variables included in a cost function, several problems can frequently be encountered:
- Data Unavailability: Sometimes, the specific cost data needed for analysis is not available or does not cover the exact attributes required for the research. For instance, while average professor salaries at public schools are recorded, it might not detail the time taken by each professor to reach their current salary, their educational backgrounds, or their teaching tenure.
- Irregularities in the Object Being Measured: The object of cost analysis may have inconsistencies that make it difficult to assess accurate costs. Such irregularities can stem from variances in production, service delivery, or any anomalies related to the cost items.
- Other Factors Affecting Outcome: The reliability of cost data can be impacted by external factors that are highly situation-specific, which can make it challenging to isolate costs associated with a specific function or variable.
- Incompatibility of Cost Units: It is important to note that some costs are measured in total dollars (total cost, fixed cost, variable cost), while others are measured in dollars per unit of output (marginal cost, average cost, average variable cost), which necessitates different graph representations and complicates the data collection process.