An environmentalist wants to determine the relationships between the numbers (in thousands) of forest fires over the year and the number (in hundred thousands) of acres burned. The data for 8 recent years are shown. Test the significance of correlation coefficient α = 0.05, using the PPMC approach.Number of fires (x) Number of acres burned (y) xy x^2 y^2
72 62
69 42
58 19
47 26
84 51
62 15
57 30
45 15
Σ=494 Σy=260 Σxy= Σx^2= Σy^2=a. Compute the value of the correlation coefficient.
b. State the hypothesis.
c. Find the critical values.
d. Make a decision.
e. Summarize the results.