Before Technology Was Available to Fit Many Kinds of Models

Multiple Choice

Before technology was available to fit many kinds of models to data, researchers and others were restricted to using linear models. Because exponential data are common in many fields of study, it has always been important to be able to fit an exponential model to data. Consider the table showing past and predicted populations for a region. Change the data so that they represent the year and natural log of the population. Use the method of least squares to find the best fitting linear model for the changed data where x represents the year. You should keep the data in the form and should not round the values until the final calculation. Give your coefficients to four decimal places.

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