Question

For each problem, select the best response.

(a) A gambler conducts a study to determine whether the time it took a horse to run its last race can be used to predict the time it takes the horse to run its next race. In this study, the explanatory variable is

A. all horses used in the study.
B. the time it takes a horse to run its next race.
C. the gambler's winnings.
D. the time it took a horse to run its last race.
E. None of the above.

(b) Does mandatory gun ownership prevent crime? To study this, the number of burglaries committed each month in a small town were recorded for 75 months prior to passage of a bill requiring citizens to own guns and for 56 months after passage of the bill. The goal was to see if the number of burglaries committed was affected by requiring citizens to own guns. The response variable here is

A. the number of burglaries committed.
B. whether or not gun ownership is required by law.
C. whether or not a burglary was committed by a gun owner.
D. the number of guns owned.
E. None of the above.

(c) Can one predict a student's score on a test in a statistics course from the number of hours the student spent studying for the test ? To explore this, the teacher of the course asks students how many hours they spent studying for the test and then makes a scatterplot of the time students spent studying and their scores on the test. In making the scatterplot, the teacher should

A. use a plotting scale that makes the overall trend roughly linear.
B. plot the score on the test on the horizontal axis.
C. first determine if the scores on the test approximately follow a normal distribution.
D. plot time spent studying for the test on the horizontal axis.
E. None of the above.

Answer 1

a)

Time to run next race is to be predicted from the time taken to run previous race

Hence, time taken to run previous race is the explanatory or independent variable

Answer:

D.   the time it took a horse to run its last race.

b)

The goal was to see if the number of burglaries committed was affected.

Hence, the response variable is the number of burglaries committed.

Answer:

A. the number of burglaries committed.

c)

Students scores are the response variable which should be on y-axis

Time spent in studying is the explanatory variable which should be on x-axis

Answer:

D. plot time spent studying for the test on the horizontal axis.

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