A large city hospital conducted a study to investigate the relationship between the numbers of unauthorized days that employees are absent per year and the distance (miles) between home and work for the employees. A sample of 10 employees was selected and the following data were collected.

Distance to Number of Days
Work (miles) Absent
1 ............... 8
3 ............... 5
4 ............... 8
6 ............... 7
8 ............... 6
10 ............... 3
12 ............... 5
14 ............... 2
14 ............... 4
18 ............... 2

a. Develop a scatter diagram for these data. Does a linear relationship appear reasonable? Explain.
b. Develop the least squares estimated regression equation that relates the distance to work to the number of days absent.
c. Predict the number of days absent for an employee who lives 5 miles from the hospital.