Angela Chou Has Been Asked to Investigate the Determinants of Poverty

Multiple Choice

Angela Chou has been asked to investigate the determinants of poverty in Ontario communities. She collected data on 60 communities from Statistics Canada. She selected the percentage of poor persons living under the poverty line [Poor (%) ], measured by Low Income Cut-Off, designed by Statistics Canada as a measure of poverty for a community, as the dependent variable. The independent variables selected are percent of single families in each community, the unemployment rate in each community, percent of population in the community holding a bachelor's degree as their highest level of education attained, and percent of population holding a High School Diploma as their highest level of education attained. [Adapted from 1st Canadian Lind text 14-14]

Given the regression equation Poor (%) = -3.81 + 0.798 Single-Families (%) + 0.624 Unemployment Rate (%) - 0.170 Bachelor's Degree (%) - 0.003 High School (%)
Which single event would have the strongest effect in reducing the % poor in Ontario?

A) Decreasing the % of single families by 5%
B) Decreasing the Unemployment rate by 5%
C) Increasing the % of persons with a Bachelor's Degree by 10%
D) Decreasing the % of persons with a High School Diploma by 40%
E) Increasing the % of persons with a Bachelor's Degree by 15%