- a = 1.25, b = -5
Solution:
It is given that yi = axi + b for i = 1, 2, 3, ..., n, where a and b are constants.
$\overline{\text{x}_\text{i}}=48$ and $\sigma_{\text{x}_\text{i}}=12$
$\overline{\text{y}_\text{i}}=55$ and $\sigma_{\text{y}_\text{i}}=15$
$\text{y}_\text{i}=\text{ax}_\text{i}+\text{b}$
$\Rightarrow\frac{\sum\text{y}_\text{i}}{\text{n}}=\frac{\sum(\text{ax}_\text{i}+\text{b})}{\text{n}}$
$\Rightarrow\frac{\sum\text{y}_\text{i}}{\text{n}}=\text{a}\frac{\sum\text{x}_\text{i}}{\text{n}}+\frac{\sum\text{b}}{\text{n}}$
$\Rightarrow\overline{\text{y}_\text{i}}=\text{a}\overline{\text{x}_\text{i}}+\text{b}$
$\Rightarrow55=48\text{a}+\text{b}\ ...(1)$
Now,
Standard deviation of yi = Standard deviation of axi + b
$\Rightarrow\sigma_{\text{y}_\text{i}}=\text{a}\times\sigma_{\text{x}_\text{i}}$
$\Rightarrow15=12\text{a}$
$\Rightarrow\text{a}=\frac{15}{12}=1.25$
Putting a = 1.25 in (1), we get
b = 55 - 48 × 1.25 = 55 - 60 = -5
Thus, the values of a and b are 1.25 and -5, respectively.
Hence, the correct answer is option (a).