For a sample of 100 employees, a personnel direc- tor has collected data on x 5 the number of years an employee has been with the firm and y 5 the number of shares of company stock the employee owns. The data are in file XR02044.
a. Generate a scatter diagram that includes the best-fit linear equation for these data.
b. Does there appear to be any relationship between the variables? If so, is the relationship direct or inverse?
c. Interpret the slope of the equation generated in part (a).
d. Viewing the scatter diagram and equation in part (a), do you think there are any employees who appear to own an unusually high or low amount of stock com- pared to the ownership that the equation would have predicted?