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 that will be entered into the regression model by the forward selection procedure will be ___________. $$\begin{array} { | c | r | c | r | c | c | r | } \hline & y & x _ { 1 } & x _ { 2 } & x _ { 3 } & x _ { 4 } & x _ { 5 } \\\hline y & 1 & & & & & \\\hline x _ { 1 } & - 0.0857 & 1 & & & & \\\hline x _ { 2 } & - 0.20246 & 0.868358 & 1 & & & \\\hline x _ { 3 } & - 0.22631 & - 0.10604 & - 0.14853 & 1 & & \\\hline x _ { 4 } & - 0.28175 & - 0.0685 & 0.41468 & - 0.14151 & 1 & \\\hline x _ { 5 } & 0.271105 & 0.150796 & 0.129388 & - 0.15243 & 0.00821 & 1 \\\hline\end{array}$$

A) x₁
B) x₂
C) x₃
D) x₄
E) x₅