Questions: The scatter plot shows the relationship between the population of the city and the number of large wildlife sightings within city limits. What is the interpretation of the slope? What is the interpretation of the intercept?

Solution Steps

The given regression equation is $\hat{Y} = 170 - 0.002X$, where $\hat{Y}$ represents the predicted number of large wildlife sightings and $X$ represents the city population. The slope is -0.002, and the intercept is 170.

The slope represents the change in the predicted number of large wildlife sightings for every one-unit increase in the city population. In this case, the slope is -0.002, meaning that for every increase of 1 person in the city's population, the predicted number of large wildlife sightings decreases by 0.002.

The intercept represents the predicted number of large wildlife sightings when the city population is zero. In this case, the intercept is 170, meaning that the predicted number of large wildlife sightings is 170 when the city population is zero. This might not be a realistic scenario in the real world but is mathematically how the intercept is interpreted.

Final Answer