The equation hat y is equal to 54 point 1 6 plus 0 point 8 7 x is called the least-squares regression line because it

A least-squares regression line is chosen to minimize the sum of the squared residuals. A residual is the difference between an observed value and the value predicted by the line, and squaring prevents positive and negative differences from canceling. Therefore, choice D, “makes the sum of the squared residuals as small as possible,” is correct.

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