Final answer:
A scatter plot can be created by plotting the year and number of family members attending college. The least-squares line can be calculated to represent the best-fit line through the scatter plot points. The y-intercept of the line does not have a practical interpretation in this context.
Step-by-step explanation:
a. Scatter plot:
A scatter plot of the data can be created by plotting the year on the x-axis and the number of family members attending college on the y-axis. Each data point represents a specific year and the corresponding number of family members attending college.
b. Least-squares line:
The least-squares line represents the best-fit line through the scatter plot points. It can be calculated using a method called linear regression. The equation of the least-squares line is in the form y = a + bx, where y is the dependent variable (number of family members attending college), x is the independent variable (year), and a and b are the coefficients.
c. Meaning of the y-intercept:
The y-intercept, a, represents the estimated number of family members attending college when the year is 0. However, since the year variable is not meaningful for this specific scenario, the y-intercept does not have a practical interpretation in this context.
d. Correlation coefficient:
The correlation coefficient measures the strength and direction of the linear relationship between the year and the number of family members attending college. It ranges from -1 to 1, where -1 indicates a strong negative correlation, 1 indicates a strong positive correlation, and 0 indicates no correlation. The correlation coefficient can be used to determine if the relationship between the variables is statistically significant.