Fall 2015

Linear Regression
Let spreadsheets do the work for you!
Setup

• Do you see the “Analysis” section

on the Data Ribbon?
Setup

Click the FILE tab, and then

select Options.
 Setup

1. Click Add-Ins

2. Click Go...
Setup

Check the “Analysis

Toolpak” option, then
click the OK button.

You should now see the

“Analysis” section on the
Data Ribbon as shown a
few slides ago.
What is linear regression for?

• “[Attempts] to model the

relationship between two variables
by fitting a linear equation to
observed data.” (source:
http://www.stat.yale.edu/Courses/1997-98/101/linreg.htm)

• To see if there’s relationship

between data (X and Y)
• Forecasting / predicting
Tutorial

• First you need some data to

perform the analysis on.
• Open regression.xlsx and follow
the next slides to perform a linear
regression analysis.
Tutorial

Examine your data. What does it tell you?

Variables

• Do you know your X’s and Y’s?

• Which is dependent? Which is
independent?
Tutorial

Click the “Data Analysis”

button on the Data Ribbon.

Select “Regression”
from the dialogue box
and click OK.
Tutorial

Select the X and Y Ranges.

Select a cell to place the

regression data into.

There are many other options, but they

can be left unchecked for now.
 Tutorial

Although there is a lot of statistical

goodness in the output, the R values here
are of interest. This says there is about a
98% correlation between the variables.

The “b” in the y=mx+b formula.

The “m” in the y=mx+b formula.

Tutorial

Enter the y=mx+b formula. Notice that m and b are

absolute references. This is important as you can use the
auto-fill feature to quickly copy the formula down to the
other cells. Not using an absolute reference would
“break” the formula.
Tutorial

Check your result with the screenshot above.

Tutorial
1. Select cells B2:D9.
2. Create a scatter chart with straight lines.
Tutorial

You should get a chart like this...

But it should look like this...

Tutorial
You’ll be working through this in class. Make
some good notes!