6 Exercise 2: Identifying relationships

If we had data for the following studies, determine whether fitting a regression model would be appropriate or produce meaningful results. If a regression model is appropriate, identify which variable is the response variable and which is the explanatory variable.

  1. A study investigated whether federal spending, on average, is higher or lower in countries with higher rates of poverty.
       Regression model appropriate?
       Federal spending:
       Poverty rates:


  1. A study was conducted to determine whether surgery or chemotherapy results in higher survival rates for a certain type of cancer.
       Regression model appropriate?
       Type of treatment:
       Survival rates:


  1. A study found that, overall, left-handed people die at a younger age than right-handed people.
       Regression model appropriate?
       Age of death:
       Left- or right-handed:


  1. A study to determine if per capita cheese consumption is correlated with the number of people who died getting tangled in bed sheets.
       Regression model appropriate?
       Number of people who died getting tangled in bed sheets:
       Per capita cheese consumption:


  1. An experiment was conducted to test the effects of sleep deprivation on human reaction times.
       Regression model appropriate?
       Hours of sleep:
       Reaction times:


  1. A study was conducted in order to predict the GPA of university students given their high school GPA.
       Regression model appropriate?
       GPA of university students:
       High school GPA:


  1. A company ran a study to find out if there is a significant relationship between its advertising expenditures and its sales volume.
       Regression model appropriate?
       Advertising expenditures:
       Sales volume:


  1. A sample of insured drivers with similar insurance policies were randomly selected. Interest is in determining whether there is a significant relationship between driving experience and insurance premium.
       Regression model appropriate?
       Driving experience:
       Insurance premium:


  1. A study was run to investigate if ice cream sales are correlated with murder rates in the US.
       Regression model appropriate?
       Murder rates:
       Ice cream sales: