For Each of 200 Randomly Selected Cities, Pete Recorded the Number

question 27

Essay

For each of 200 randomly selected cities, Pete recorded the number of churches in the city (x)and the number of homicides in the past decade (y). He calculated the linear
correlation coefficient and was surprised to find a strong positive linear correlation for the
two variables. Does this suggest that building new churches causes an increase in the number
of homicides? Why do you think that a strong positive linear correlation coefficient was
obtained? Explain your answer with reference to the term lurking variable.

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Definitions:

Headings

Text that is often formatted differently and used to indicate the start of a section or a topic in a document.

Roman Numerals

A numerical system originating from ancient Rome, using combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet (I, V, X, L, C, D, M) to represent numbers.

Transition

The process or period of change from one state or condition to another.

Tabulations

The systematic arrangement of data in rows and columns, usually for the purposes of analysis or presentation.