Environmental Biologists Studying the Relationship Between the Number of Owls

question 32

Multiple Choice

Environmental biologists studying the relationship between the number of owls in a forested region and the number of field mice in the region believe that the deterministic component of the relationship is a straight line. A scatterplot shows that even though the general trend is linear, the points do not fall exactly on a straight line. Which of the following factors might account for the random component of this regression model?

• A)Variation in the size of the mice might cause variation in the amount of mice consumed by owls.
• B)Different size owls might affect the number of mice eaten.
• C)Variability might appear in the instrument used to count mice.
• D)All of these are possible factors that could account for the random component of the regression model.

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Definitions:

Frederick Douglass

An African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman who escaped from slavery in Maryland.

Fourth of July

A federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence of the United States, on July 4, 1776.

Three-Fifths Clause

A provision signed into the Constitution in 1787 that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted in determining each state’s representation in the House of Representatives and its electoral votes for president.