Question

fuel efficiency, measured in miles per gallon, is a feature often considered by shoppers looking for a new car. the scatterplot shows the vehicle weight of 15 car models in pounds, plotted against their highway fuel efficiency. which of the following is a reasonable value for r, given the relationship shown in the scatterplot? -0.197 -0.898 0.528 0.902

Explanation:

Step1: Determine the direction of the correlation

As car weight increases, fuel efficiency decreases. So, it is a negative correlation. Thus, we can eliminate \(0.528\) and \(0.902\) (positive values).

Step2: Assess the strength of the correlation

The points in the scatter - plot are closely clustered around an imaginary line (indicating a strong correlation). The value of \(r=-0.197\) indicates a weak correlation (\(\vert r\vert\approx0.2\)), while \(r = - 0.898\) (\(\vert r\vert\approx0.9\)) indicates a strong correlation.

Answer:

\(-0.898\)