Exercise 9.1 introduces a data set on birth weight of babies. Another variable we consider is parity, which is 1 if the child is the first born, and 0 otherwise. The summary table below shows the results of a linear regression model for predicting the average birth weight of babies, measured in ounces, from parity.

(a) Write the equation of the regression model.

(b) Interpret the slope in this context, and calculate the predicted birth weight of first borns and others.

(c) Is there a statistically significant relationship between the average birth weight and parity?

Data from Exercise 9.1

The Child Health and Development Studies investigate a range of topics. One study considered all pregnancies between 1960 and 1967 among women in the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan in the San Francisco East Bay area. Here, we study the relationship between smoking and weight of the baby. The variable smoke is coded 1 if the mother is a smoker, and 0 if not. The summary table below shows the results of a linear regression model for predicting the average birth weight of babies, measured in ounces, based on the smoking status of the mother.

The variability within the smokers and non-smokers are about equal and the distributions are symmetric. With these conditions satisfied, it is reasonable to apply the model.

(Intercept) parity Estimate Std. Error 0.60 1.19 120.07 -1.93 t value Pr(>|t|) 199.94 0.0000 -1.62 0.1052