Over a Period of Years,a Certain Town Observed the Association

Multiple Choice

Over a period of years,a certain town observed the association between the number of people attending churches and the number of people in the city jail.The results are shown on the figure below.Also shown are the equation and R² value from a linear regression analysis.What is the best conclusion to draw from the figure?

A) Although the association is negatively strong,going to church does not cause people to go to jail.Instead,size of the population in the town is probably a lurking variable that drives both the number of people in jail and the number of people attending church to increase together.
B) More detainees should go to church to improve their behavior.
C) Although the association is positively strong,going to church does not cause people to go to jail.Instead,size of the population of the town is probably a lurking variable that drives both the number of people in jail and the number of people attending church to increase together.
D) More people go to church not to go to jail.
E) Clearly,there must be some as-yet unknown problems associated with going to church.