LESSON: Interpreting the Regression Equation

Site: Mountain Heights Academy OER
Course: Introductory Statistics Q3
Book: LESSON: Interpreting the Regression Equation
Printed by: Guest user
Date: Tuesday, 8 April 2025, 7:58 PM

REVIEW: How to Find the Slope and Y-Intercept

The equation for all straight lines takes the form: y=mx + b, where m is the slope of the line and b is the y-intercept of the line. This form is called Slope Intercept Form.

The same is true for a regression line. The equation for a regression line takes the form: $$\hat{y}=mx+b$$, where m is the slope of the regression line and b is the y=intercept of the regression line. 

It is important for you to be familiar with how to find the slope and y-intercept of a line by looking at it at a graph. Doing this will help you to interpret what the equation means - interpreting the equation if the topic of this lesson and your next assignment.

In this lesson video, you will learn how the equation for the regression line (or line of best fit) is found without using a calculator or spreadsheet. To watch the video, click "Sign in as Guest" then enter your name.

Regression: Slope, Intercept & Interpretation

We have learned how to find the equation for a regression line using Google Sheets. Now it's time to interpret what that regression line means in the context of the problem. 

In this lesson video you will see a few examples of interpreting the regression equation. 

The teacher in this video uses the the following terms to describe the x and y variables in the equations, but you might be more familiar with these terms:

Explanatory Variable = Independent Variable (x)

Response Variable = Dependent Variable (y)

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3