New Delhi

New Delhi and Mumbai figure in a list of the world's most expensive cities to live in. This survey was conducted by Swiss wealth management firm UBS Bank and appears in its publication Prices and Earnings -- A global purchasing power comparison.

The UBS study, released this week, gives the latest update on a previous study on price and wage comparison of 73 of the world's cities.

For the 2009 edition, a standardised survey of prices and wages in 73 cities around the world was conducted by a number of independent price surveyors. The questionnaire used for the survey covered 122 different goods and services, and included 112 questions pertaining to wages, payroll deductions and working hours for 15 different occupations.

In terms of interpreting the results, all price information gathered had to be converted into a reference currency, making such data subject to fluctuating exchange rates.

Cities like Auckland and Sydney climbed nearly 20 places in the rankings because of the dramatic appreciation of the New Zealand and Australian dollar, respectively, versus the US dollar to join the top third of the world's most expensive cities.

The survey also noted that the highest growth rates for gross domestic product were recorded by China (10.7 per cent) and Taiwan (9.1 per cent).

Scientific Method

The scentific method sets for a process for investigating the world around us. It is a multistep process that begins with identifying a question. This is followed with the development of a hypothesis, in other words, an educated guess as to what you think will happen or how you think the question will be answered. The next step is to construct an experiment. To do that you need to make a list of the steps and procedures for the experiment and then you must gather the equipment to carry out the experiment. Performing the experiment is obvious, but just as important is recording the results of the experiment and drawing a conclusion about what the experiment said about your original question and your hopothesis.