An economic development researcher wants to understand the relationship between the average monthly expenditure on utilities for households in a particular middle-class neighborhood and each of the following household variables: family size, approximate location of the household within the neighborhood, an indication of whether those surveyed owned or rented their home, gross annual income of the first household wage earner, gross annual income of the second household wage earner (if applicable), size of the monthly home mortgage or rent payment, and the total indebtedness (excluding the value of a home mortgage) of the household. The data are in the file P2_54.XLS.

a. Use a computer to generate a correlation for each pairing of variables with the household’s average monthly expenditure on utilities.

b. Which of the aforementioned variables have a positive linear relationship with the household’s average monthly expenditure on utilities?

c. Which of the aforementioned variables have a negative linear relationship with the household’s average monthly expenditure on utilities?

d Which of the aforementioned variables have essentially no linear relationship with the household’s average monthly expenditure on utilities?