A health organization collects data on hospitals in a large metropolitan area. The scatterplot shows the relationship between two variables the organization collected: the number of beds each hospital has available and the average number of days a patient stays in the hospital (mean length of stay).
A graph titled hospitals has number of beds on the x-axis, and mean length of stay (days) on the y-axis. Points increases in a line with positive slope.
Which statement best explains the relationship between the variables shown?
Hospitals with more beds cause longer lengths of stay.
The size of the hospital does not appear the have an influence on length of stay.
More complex medical cases are often taken by larger hospitals, which increases the lengths of stay for larger hospitals.
More complex medical cases are often taken by larger hospitals, which decreases the lengths of stay for larger hospitals.
ANSWER
More complex medical cases are often taken by larger hospitals, which increases the lengths of stay for larger hospitals.
The scatterplot shows a positive relationship between the number of beds a hospital has available and the average length of stay for patients at that hospital. This means that as the number of beds increases, the average length of stay also increases. This relationship is likely due to the fact that larger hospitals are more likely to take on more complex medical cases that require longer stays, whereas smaller hospitals may not have the resources or expertise to handle these cases. In other words, the size of the hospital (as represented by the number of beds) appears to be a factor that influences the length of stay for patients.
