The final conclusions are:
- The correlation coefficient \( r \) is \( 0.96 \).
- The critical values are \( \pm 0.268 \).
- There is sufficient evidence to support the claim of a linear correlation.
Thus, the answer is boxed as follows:
\[
\boxed{r = 0.96, \text{ critical values } = \pm 0.268, \text{ evidence supports correlation}}
\]