Inspection of the Following Table of T Values for Variables

Multiple Choice

Inspection of the following table of t values for variables in a multiple regression analysis reveals that the first independent variable entered by the forward selection procedure will be ___________. $$\begin{array} { | c | c | c | c | c | c | c | } \hline & y & x _ { 1 } & x _ { 2 } & x _ { 3 } & x _ { 4 } & x _ { 5 } \\\hline y & 1 & & & & & \\\hline x _ { 1 } & - 0.44008 & 1 & & & & \\\hline x _ { 2 } & 0.566053 & - 0.51728 & 1 & & & \\\hline x _ { 3 } & 0.064919 & - 0.22264 & - 0.00734 & 1 & & \\\hline x _ { 4 } & - 0.35711 & 0.028957 & - 0.49869 & 0.260586 & 1 & \\\hline x _ { 5 } & 0.426363 & - 0.20467 & 0.078916 & 0.207477 & 0.023839 & 1 \\\hline\end{array}$$

A) x₁
B) x₂
C) x₃
D) x₄
E) x₅