5. Linear Regression

Relationships between variables are often at the heart of what we would like to learn from data. This chapter covers linear regression analysis, a statistical method that is used to estimate the relationship between a continuous dependent variable and one or more independent variables. This technique can be used to answer such questions as:

  • Is there a relationship between movie box office performance and advertising spend?

  • Do countries with higher GDPs have lower infant mortality rates?

  • What is the relationship between a given stock’s return and the returns of the S&P 500?