1. A larger firm is considering acquiring the bookstore of Exercise 1. An analyst for the firm, noting the relationship seen in Exercise 1, suggests that when they acquire the store they should hire more people because that will drive higher sales. Is his conclusion justified? What alternative explanations can you offer? Use appropriate statistics terminology.

2. A study finds that during blizzards, online sales are highly associated with the number of snow plows on the road; the more plows, the more online purchases. The director of an association of online merchants suggests that the organization should encourage municipalities to send out more plows whenever it snows because, he says, that will increase business. Comment.