Final answer:
The slope of the trend line represents the rate of change of the data in a scatterplot. A positive slope infers a positive correlation, and in this case, the slope of 15 means that for every 1 unit increase in the independent variable, there is a corresponding increase of 15 units in the dependent variable.
Step-by-step explanation:
The slope of the trend line represents the rate of change of the data in a scatterplot. In this case, since the slope is 15, it means that for every 1 unit increase in the independent variable (x-axis), there is a corresponding increase of 15 units in the dependent variable (y-axis).
To illustrate this, let's say the independent variable is advertising costs and the dependent variable is sales. If the slope is 15, it means that for every increase of $1,000 in advertising costs, sales will increase by $15,000. This indicates a positive correlation between advertising costs and sales.
Therefore, the correct statements are:
- The slope represents the rate of change of the data.
- Advertising costs increase $15,000 as sales increase by $1,000.
- Sales increase $15,000 as ads increase by $1,000.
- A positive slope infers a positive correlation.