Simple Linear Regression: Applications, Limitations & Examples

In contrast, the marginal effect of xj on y can be assessed using a correlation coefficient or simple linear regression model relating only xj to y; this effect is the total derivative of y with respect to xj. Regression analysis includes several variations, such as linear, multiple linear, and nonlinear. Nonlinear regression analysis is commonly used for more complicated data sets in which the dependent and independent variables show a nonlinear relationship. Standard linear regression models with standard estimation techniques make a number of assumptions about the predictor variables, the response variables and their relationship. Numerous extensions have been developed that allow each of these assumptions to be relaxed (i.e. reduced to a weaker form), and in some cases eliminated entirely. Generally these extensions make the estimation procedure more complex and time-consuming, and may also require more data in order to produce an equally precise model.

  • Typically, you have a set of data whose scatter plot appears to “fit” a straight line.
  • A fitted linear regression model can be used to identify the relationship between a single predictor variable xj and the response variable y when all the other predictor variables in the model are “held fixed”.
  • In statistics this is called homoscedasticity, which describes when variables have a similar spread across their ranges.
  • This tutorial shares four different examples of when logistic regression is used in real life.
  • This is seen by looking at the vertical ranges of the data in the plot.

One variable is viewed as an explanatory variable, and the other is viewed as a dependent variable. Because the other terms are used less frequently today, we’ll use the “predictor” business report example and “response” terms to refer to the variables encountered in this course. The other terms are mentioned only to make you aware of them should you encounter them in other arenas.

Applications of Simple Linear Regression

For example, there may be a very high correlation between the number of salespeople employed by a company, the number of stores they operate, and the revenue the business generates. A large number of procedures have been developed for parameter estimation and inference in linear regression. Suppose we’re interested in understanding the relationship between weight and height.

This tutorial shares four different examples of when logistic regression is used in real life. If your dependent variable is binary, you should use Simple Logistic Regression, and if your dependent variable is categorical, then you should use Multinomial Logistic Regression or Linear Discriminant Analysis. Continuous means that your variable of interest can basically take on any value, such as heart rate, height, weight, number of ice cream bars you can eat in 1 minute, etc.

What is Simple Linear Regression Analysis

This output table first repeats the formula that was used to generate the results (‘Call’), then summarizes the model residuals (‘Residuals’), which give an idea of how well the model fits the real data. Linear regression finds the line of best fit line through your data by searching for the regression coefficient (B1) that minimizes the total error (e) of the model. This means that if you plot the variables, you will be able to draw a straight line that fits the shape of the data. Assumptions mean that your data must satisfy certain properties in order for statistical method results to be accurate.

What is Regression Analysis?

This tutorial shares four different examples of when linear regression is used in real life. If you need more examples in the field of statistics and data analysis or more data visualization types, our posts “descriptive statistics examples” and “binomial distribution examples” might be useful to you. With an estimated slope of – 502.4, we can conclude that the average car price decreases $502.2 for each year a car increases in age. Many of simple linear regression examples (problems and solutions) from the real life can be given to help you understand the core meaning. This number shows how much variation there is in our estimate of the relationship between income and happiness.

Simple Linear Regression Examples, Problems, and Solutions

Regression models are used for the elaborated explanation of the relationship between two given variables. There are certain types of regression models like logistic regression models, nonlinear regression models, and linear regression models. The linear regression model fits a straight line into the summarized data to establish the relationship between two variables. Besides being useful for describing the relationships and making predictions, this mathematical description provides a powerful mean of controlling for confounding. For example, the coefficient 1.5 for diet score indicates that for each additional point in diet score, I must add 1.5 units to my prediction, regardless of whether it is a male or female or an adult or a child.

What Actually is Simple Linear Regression?

The regression model assumes that the straight line extends to infinity in both directions, which often is not true. According to the regression equation for the example, people who have owned their exercise machines longer than around 15 months do not exercise at all. It is more likely, however, that “hours of exercise” reaches some minimum threshold and then declines only gradually, if at all (see Figure 6). The most basic form of linear is regression is known as simple linear regression, which is used to quantify the relationship between one predictor variable and one response variable. A business wants to know whether word count and country of origin impact the probability that an email is spam. To understand the relationship between these two predictor variables and the probability of an email being spam, researchers can perform logistic regression.

The business can also use the fitted logistic regression model to predict the probability that a given email is spam, based on its word count and country of origin. This value can range from 0-1 and represents how well your linear regression line fits your data points. The R2 (adj) value (52.4%) is a change in accordance with R2 dependent on the number of x-variables in the model (just one here) and the example size. And where is the y‐value predicted for x using the regression equation, is the critical value from the t‐table corresponding to half the desired alpha level at n – 2 degrees of freedom, and n is the size of the sample (the number of data pairs). Numerous extensions of linear regression have been developed, which allow some or all of the assumptions underlying the basic model to be relaxed.

If you have more than one independent variable, use multiple linear regression instead. A credit card company wants to know whether transaction amount and credit score impact the probability of a given transaction being fraudulent. To understand the relationship between these two predictor variables and the probability of a transaction being fraudulent, the company can perform logistic regression. Researchers want to know how GPA, ACT score, and number of AP classes taken impact the probability of getting accepted into a particular university.

SLR in Python with statsmodels.api, statsmodels.formula.api, and scikit-learn

Simple linear regression gets its adjective “simple,” because it concerns the study of only one predictor variable. In contrast, multiple linear regression, which we study later in this course, gets its adjective “multiple,” because it concerns the study of two or more predictor variables. If we have more than one predictor variable then we can use multiple linear regression, which is used to quantify the relationship between several predictor variables and a response variable.

It looks as though happiness actually levels off at higher incomes, so we can’t use the same regression line we calculated from our lower-income data to predict happiness at higher levels of income. The first row gives the estimates of the y-intercept, and the second row gives the regression coefficient of the model. Linear Regression is sensitive to outliers, or data points that have unusually large or small values. You can tell if your variables have outliers by plotting them and observing if any points are far from all other points.

We often say that regression models can be used to predict the value of the dependent variable at certain values of the independent variable. However, this is only true for the range of values where we have actually measured the response. This second beta coefficient is the slope of the regression line and is the key to understanding the numerical relationship between your variables.

From the scatterplot we can clearly see that as weight increases, height tends to increase as well, but to actually quantify this relationship between weight and height, we need to use linear regression. The results of the model will tell the company exactly how changes in transaction amount and credit score affect the probability of a given transaction being fraudulent. The company can also use the fitted logistic regression model to predict the probability that a given transaction is fraudulent, based on the transaction amount and the credit score of the individual who made the transaction. The results of the model will tell researchers exactly how changes in GPA, ACT score, and number of AP classes taken affect the probability that a given individual gets accepted into the university.

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