Question

manatees are large, gentle, slow - moving sea creatures found along the coast of florida. many manatees are injured or killed by boats. here is a scatterplot showing the relationship between the number of boats registered in florida (in thousands) and the number of manatees killed by boats for the years 1977 to 2015. which of the following is the most likely value of r? is r > 0 or r < 0? closer to r = 0 or r = ±1? r = 0.34 r=-0.94 r=-0.34 r = 0.94 r = 0

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze scatter - plot direction

As the number of boats registered in Florida increases, the number of manatees killed by boats also increases. This indicates a positive linear relationship, so $r>0$.

Step2: Analyze scatter - plot strength

The points in the scatter - plot seem to follow a relatively strong linear pattern. A value of $r$ close to 1 indicates a strong linear relationship. Since the points are not perfectly in a straight line, but show a clear upward trend, $r$ is close to 1 but not exactly 1.

Answer:

$r = 0.94$