Homework Assignment 4

1. I want to examine the relationship between gas mileage of cars and the engine size
(displacement in cubic inches). The explanatory variable is:

a. engine size.
b. gas mileage.
c. I could use either one.

2. A recent article in an educational research journal reports a correlation of +0.8

between math achievement and overall math aptitude. It also reports a correlation
of –0.8 between math achievement and a math anxiety test. Which of the following
interpretations is the most correct?
a. The correlation of +0.8 indicates a stronger a relationship than the correlation of
–0.8.
b. The correlation of +0.8 is just as strong as the correlation of –0.8.
c. It is impossible to tell which correlation is stronger.

3. Are the following two variables positively associated, negatively associated or not
associated?
Let X be how much gas you have in your tank (in gallons).
Let Y be the cost to fill your gas tank.

a. The two variables are positively associated.

b. The two variables are negatively associated.
c. The two variables are not associated.
 4. Below is a plot of the Olympic gold-medal-winning performance in the high jump (in
inches) for the years 1900 to 1996.
From this plot, the correlation between the winning height and year of the jump is

a. about 0.95.
b. about 0.10.
c. about –0.50.

5. I wish to determine the correlation between the height (in inches) and weight (in
pounds) of 21-year-old males. To do this I measure the height and weight of two 21-
year-old men. The measured values are

Male #1 Male #2

Height 70 69

Weight 160 164

The correlation, r, computed from the measurements on these males, is

a. 1.0.
b. –1.0.
c. near 0, because the heights and weights of the men are similar.
6. A chemist was conducting an experiment to find how many mLs of a particular
substance dissolve in different temperatures of water. A correlation of 0.87 was
computed. Which interpretation is TRUE?
a. 87% of the variation in the amount of dissolved substance is explained by
temperature.
b. Correlation can’t be computed because temperature is not a continuous variable.
c. 76% of the variation in the amount of dissolved substance is explained by
temperature.

7. Below is a plot of the Olympic gold-medal-winning performance in the high jump (in
inches) for the years 1900 to 1996. The equation of the least-squares regression line
of Winning Height (in inches) on Year is
Winning Height = –364.90 + 0.23 Year
In another millennium (the year 3000), if the Olympics continue to be held, we can
expect the Winning Height to be about:

a. 325 inches.
b. 690 inches.
c. none of the above.

8. The regression line to predict average exam grade from hours of study is

yˆ = 15 + 5.6x
The slope of the regression line indicates
a. for any student, an extra hour of study is predicted to increase the grade 5.6
points.
b. on average, an extra hour of study is predicted to increase the grade 5.6 points.
c. an extra hour of study will increase the grade 15 points.
9. Which of the following statements would be a valid conclusion from this plot of
record times for men and women in some sport?

O= Men, X= Women
a. The world record times for women show a greater rate of improvement (decrease
more rapidly) than the world record times for men.
b. We can expect the world record time for women to be lower than that for men
sometime before the year 2010.
c. By the year 2010, the world record time for men will reach a plateau beyond
which no improvement will be possible.

10. Which of the following measures only the strength of a relationship?

a. the correlation coefficient (R)
b. the slope (b)
c. the Coefficient of Determination (R2)

11. Which of the following is correct with respect to the correlation coefficient (r) and
the slope of the least-squares regression line?
a. They will always have the same sign.
b. They will have opposite signs.
c. Nothing, because they are two different measures that are not related to one
another.
12. Assume that the relationship between X = the prevailing mortgage interest rates and
Y = the number of new houses being built per month in a Midwestern city given by
the least-squares regression equation is:
Number of new houses = 672.89 – 30.65 × Interest rate
and r = -0.7
Assuming that a linear model is appropriate, which of the following descriptions
below best represents the value of the slope?
a. When no new houses are being built, the interest rate equals 30.65%.
b. When the number of new houses being built increases by 1, the interest rate is
expected to drop by 0.3065.
c. When the interest rate increases by 1%, the number of new houses being built is
expected to drop by 30.65.
d. We cannot interpret the slope because we cannot build a negative number of
new houses.

13. Which of the following statements about the least-squares regression line is/are
TRUE?
(I) The slope of the least-squares regression line always has the same sign as the
correlation.
(II) The least-squares regression line is the line that minimizes the sum of the squares
of the residuals.
(III) The least-squares regression line is the line that maximizes the sum of the
squares of the residuals.
a. I only
b. lI only
c. I and II only
d. I and III only
e. I, II, and III

14. We have examined the age (X) and price (Y) of a certain model of car. The age (in
years) and price (in $) for a sample of 15 cars yielded the following equation:
𝑦̂ = 18600 − 1800 𝑎𝑔𝑒
What is the predicted selling price for a five-year-old car?
a. $9400
b. $9600
c. $9800
d. $10000
e. $10200
15. We refer you to the previous question. What is the residual of a five-year-old car with
a selling price of $9000?
a. –600
b. 600
c. 1200
d. –1200
e. Can’t be calculated

16. A researcher examines data from all cities with populations over 100,000 in the
United States. He notices that those cities that have a major league baseball team
tend to have a greater number of divorces than other cities. One can reasonably
conclude that
a. the presence of a major league baseball team contributes to divorce. Men spend
time at the ballpark at the expense of their marriage.
b. this correlation cannot be explained and is probably accidental. Cities with major
league baseball teams should have no more divorces than other cities.
c. none of the above.

17. A survey of 1000 adults ages 30 to 35 is conducted. The number of years of schooling
and the annual salary for each person in the survey is recorded. The correlation
between years of schooling and annual salary is found to be 0.27. Suppose, instead,
the average salary of all individuals in the survey with the same number of years of
schooling was calculated and the correlation between these averages and years of
schooling was computed. This correlation would most likely be
a. equal to 0.27.
b. larger than 0.27.
c. less than 0.27.
18. In the following graph, the circled point is

a. an influential point. Deleting it should reduce the correlation and improve the fit.
b. not an influential point because its y value is not unusually large or small.
c. an influential point. Deleting it should increase the estimate of the slope.

19. A student has obtained the following computer output from a regression examining
the relationship between BTU input to a furnace and the BTU output.

We can conclude from this information that

a. the regression is useful because R-squared is large.
b. the regression model is not useful because the slope is small.
c. we don't have enough information to conclude whether or not the regression is
useful.

20. Assuming the regression is appropriate, we conclude…

a. for every BTU input to a furnace, the output increases by 0.911, on average.
b. for every 0.187 BTU input to a furnace, the output increases by 0.911, on average.
c. for every 0.911 BTU input to a furnace, the output increases by 1, on average.
21. A researcher notices that in a sample of adults, those who take greater amounts of
vitamin C have fewer illnesses. However, those who take greater amounts of vitamin
C also tend to exercise more. As explanations for having fewer illnesses, the variables
amount of vitamin C taken and amount of exercise are ____________ variables.
a. skewed
b. confounded
c. response
d. symmetric

22. When possible, what is the best way to establish that an observed association is the
result of a cause-and-effect relationship?
a. Study the least-squares regression line.
b. Obtain the correlation coefficient.
c. Use a well-designed experiment.
d. Examine z-scores rather than the original variables.
 Answers

1. A
2. B
3. B
4. A
5. B
6. C
7. C
8. B
9. A
10. C
11. A
12. C
13. C
14. B
15. A
16. C
17. B
18. C
19. C
20. A
21. B
22. C