Of interest is to study the relationship between the number of academic credits a VCU student is taking this semester and the number of hours of paid work the student does each week. Specifically, of interest is to use the number of academic credits the student is taking to predict the number of hours of paid work the student does each week. Based on the information above, which of the following is the correct identification of the independent variable X and the dependent variable Y?

Group of answer choices

a. X = number of academic credits a VCU student is taking and Y = number of hours of paid work the student does each week

b. X = number of hours of paid work the student does each week and Y = number of academic credits a VCU student is taking