The data in Exercise 1.37 gave the number of hazardous waste sites in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2009. Suspecting that there might be a relationship between the number of waste sites and the size of the state (in thousands of square miles), researchers recorded both variables and generated a scatterplot.

a. Is there any clear pattern in the scatterplot? Describe the relationship between number of waste sites and the size of the state.
b. Use the MINITAB output to calculate the correlation coefficient. Does this confirm your answer to part a?
c. Are there any outliers or clusters in the data? If so, can you explain them?
d. What other variables could you consider in trying to understand the distribution of hazardous waste sites in the United States?

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State Sites Area State Sites Aea State tes Area 0 71 AK 6 63LA 12 5 OH 4 45 9 70 9 53 MD 112 OR 198 96 164 MA 32 PA9746 CO 20 04 M69 97RI122 CT 156|MN 25 87|SC 2632 DE MS6 48SD 2 77 0 MO 370TN15 42 55 66 MT 7 7TX50 269 19 85 3 NV1VT 10 9 84NH 29 VA 3 43 4B 58 NJ 114 9 WA 471 32 36 NM 12W9 24 12 56 NY 90W39 65 12 82NC 36 5 2 98 52 KY 14 40 ND 9 114 ME 35OK 16 59 NE 7UT Scatterplot of Sites vs. Area 120- 100 80 60 40-1 20 0 100 200 300 4500 600 700 Area