Regression analysis mathematically describes the relationship between a set of independent variables and a dependent variable. There are numerous types of regression models that you can use. This choice often depends on the kind of data you have for the dependent variable and the type of model that provides the best fit. In this post, I cover the more common types of regression analyses and how to decide which one is right for your data. [Read more…] about Choosing the Correct Type of Regression Analysis
Regression
Understanding Interaction Effects in Statistics
What are Interaction Effects?
An interaction effect occurs when the effect of one variable depends on the value of another variable. Interaction effects are common in regression models, ANOVA, and designed experiments. In this post, I explain interaction effects, the interaction effect test, how to interpret interaction models, and describe the problems you can face if you don’t include them in your model. [Read more…] about Understanding Interaction Effects in Statistics
When Should I Use Regression Analysis?
Use regression analysis to describe the relationships between a set of independent variables and the dependent variable. Regression analysis produces a regression equation where the coefficients represent the relationship between each independent variable and the dependent variable. You can also use the equation to make predictions.
As a statistician, I should probably tell you that I love all statistical analyses equally—like parents with their kids. But, shhh, I have secret! Regression analysis is my favorite because it provides tremendous flexibility, which makes it useful in so many different circumstances. In fact, I’ve described regression analysis as taking correlation to the next level!
In this blog post, I explain the capabilities of regression analysis, the types of relationships it can assess, how it controls the variables, and generally why I love it! You’ll learn when you should consider using regression analysis. [Read more…] about When Should I Use Regression Analysis?
Using Log-Log Plots to Determine Whether Size Matters
Log-log plots display data in two dimensions where both axes use logarithmic scales. When one variable changes as a constant power of another, a log-log graph shows the relationship as a straight line. In this post, I’ll show you why these graphs are valuable and how to interpret them. [Read more…] about Using Log-Log Plots to Determine Whether Size Matters
When Do You Need to Standardize the Variables in a Regression Model?
Standardization is the process of putting different variables on the same scale. In regression analysis, there are some scenarios where it is crucial to standardize your independent variables or risk obtaining misleading results.
In this blog post, I show when and why you need to standardize your variables in regression analysis. Don’t worry, this process is simple and helps ensure that you can trust your results. In fact, standardizing your variables can reveal essential findings that you would otherwise miss! [Read more…] about When Do You Need to Standardize the Variables in a Regression Model?
Why Are There No P Values in Nonlinear Regression?
Nonlinear regression analysis cannot calculate P values for the independent variables in your model. Why not? And, what do you use instead? Those are the topics of this blog post. [Read more…] about Why Are There No P Values in Nonlinear Regression?
Five Regression Analysis Tips to Avoid Common Problems
Regression is a very powerful statistical analysis. It allows you to isolate and understand the effects of individual variables, model curvature and interactions, and make predictions. Regression analysis offers high flexibility but presents a variety of potential pitfalls. Great power requires great responsibility!
In this post, I offer five tips that will not only help you avoid common problems but also make the modeling process easier. I’ll close by showing you the difference between the modeling process that a top analyst uses versus the procedure of a less rigorous analyst. [Read more…] about Five Regression Analysis Tips to Avoid Common Problems
Understand Precision in Predictive Analytics to Avoid Costly Mistakes
Precision in predictive analytics refers to how close the model’s predictions are to the observed values. The more precise the model, the closer the data points are to the predictions. When you have an imprecise model, the observations tend to be further away from the predictions, thereby reducing the usefulness of the predictions. If you have a model that is not sufficiently precise, you risk making costly mistakes! [Read more…] about Understand Precision in Predictive Analytics to Avoid Costly Mistakes
Heteroscedasticity in Regression Analysis
Heteroscedasticity means unequal scatter. In regression analysis, we talk about heteroscedasticity in the context of the residuals or error term. Specifically, heteroscedasticity is a systematic change in the spread of the residuals over the range of measured values. Heteroscedasticity is a problem because ordinary least squares (OLS) regression assumes that all residuals are drawn from a population that has a constant variance (homoscedasticity).
To satisfy the regression assumptions and be able to trust the results, the residuals should have a constant variance. In this blog post, I show you how to identify heteroscedasticity, explain what produces it, the problems it causes, and work through an example to show you several solutions. [Read more…] about Heteroscedasticity in Regression Analysis
How to Choose Between Linear and Nonlinear Regression
As you fit regression models, you might need to make a choice between linear and nonlinear regression models. The field of statistics can be weird. Despite their names, both forms of regression can fit curvature in your data. So, how do you choose? In this blog post, I show you how to choose between linear and nonlinear regression models. [Read more…] about How to Choose Between Linear and Nonlinear Regression
Model Specification: Choosing the Best Regression Model
Model specification is the process of determining which independent variables to include and exclude from a regression equation. How do you choose the best regression model? The world is complicated and trying to explain it with a small sample doesn’t help. In this post, I’ll show you how to decide on the model. I’ll cover statistical methods, difficulties that can arise, and provide practical suggestions for selecting your model. Often, the variable selection process is a mixture of statistics, theory, and practical knowledge. [Read more…] about Model Specification: Choosing the Best Regression Model
Comparing Regression Lines with Hypothesis Tests
How do you compare regression lines statistically? Imagine you are studying the relationship between height and weight and want to determine whether this relationship differs between basketball players and non-basketball players. You can graph the two regression lines to see if they look different. However, you should perform hypothesis tests to determine whether the visible differences are statistically significant. In this blog post, I show you how to determine whether the differences between coefficients and constants in different regression models are statistically significant. [Read more…] about Comparing Regression Lines with Hypothesis Tests
Identifying the Most Important Independent Variables in Regression Models
You’ve settled on a regression model that contains independent variables that are statistically significant. By interpreting the statistical results, you can understand how changes in the independent variables are related to shifts in the dependent variable. At this point, it’s natural to wonder, “Which independent variable is the most important?” [Read more…] about Identifying the Most Important Independent Variables in Regression Models
Using Data Mining to Select Regression Models Can Create Serious Problems
Data mining and regression seem to go together naturally. I’ve described regression as a seductive analysis because it is so tempting and so easy to add more variables in the pursuit of a larger R-squared. In this post, I’ll begin by illustrating the problems that data mining creates. To do this, I’ll show how data mining with regression analysis can take randomly generated data and produce a misleading model that appears to have significant variables and a good R-squared. Then, I’ll explain how data mining creates these deceptive results and how to avoid them. [Read more…] about Using Data Mining to Select Regression Models Can Create Serious Problems
Five Reasons Why Your R-squared can be Too High
When your regression model has a high R-squared, you assume it’s a good thing because it measures goodness-of-fit. You want a high R-squared, right? However, as I’ll show in this post, a high R-squared can occasionally indicate that there is a problem with your model. I’ll explain five reasons why your R-squared can be too high and how to determine whether one of them affects your regression model. [Read more…] about Five Reasons Why Your R-squared can be Too High
Overfitting Regression Models: Problems, Detection, and Avoidance
Overfitting a model is a condition where a statistical model begins to describe the random error in the data rather than the relationships between variables. This problem occurs when the model is too complex. In regression analysis, overfitting can produce misleading R-squared values, regression coefficients, and p-values. In this post, I explain how overfitting models is a problem and how you can identify and avoid it. [Read more…] about Overfitting Regression Models: Problems, Detection, and Avoidance
Guide to Stepwise Regression and Best Subsets Regression
Automatic variable selection procedures are algorithms that pick the variables to include in your regression model. Stepwise regression and Best Subsets regression are two of the more common variable selection methods. In this post, I compare how these methods work and which one provides better results. [Read more…] about Guide to Stepwise Regression and Best Subsets Regression
How to Interpret Regression Models that have Significant Variables but a Low R-squared
Does your regression model have a low R-squared? That seems like a problem—but it might not be. Learn what a low R-squared does and does not mean for your model. [Read more…] about How to Interpret Regression Models that have Significant Variables but a Low R-squared
How High Does R-squared Need to Be?
How high does R-squared need to be in regression analysis? That seems to be an eternal question. [Read more…] about How High Does R-squared Need to Be?
Making Predictions with Regression Analysis
If you were able to make predictions about something important to you, you’d probably love that, right? It’s even better if you know that your predictions are sound. In this post, I show how to use regression analysis to make predictions and determine whether they are both unbiased and precise. [Read more…] about Making Predictions with Regression Analysis