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14
Simple and Multiple Linear Regression
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Calculate and apply a linear regression equation.
Measure uncertainty in regression predictions.
Describe how multiple regression works.
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
Psychology, the study of behavior and mental processes, has four goals. The first goal is to describe behavior and mental processes, and the second goal is to understand what causes them. If the causes are known, then the third goal is predicting how an organism will behave, think, or feel. Accurate predictions help with the fourth goal, influencing how an organism behaves, thinks, or feels.
The difference between the second goal (understanding) and third goal (predicting) is the same as the difference between correlation (Chapter 13) and regression (this chapter). Correlation is about finding associations between variables, about understanding how one variable relates to another variable. This chapter, on regression, looks at the procedure for predicting one variable from the other variable. The procedure is called linear regression, and it is used to make statements like, “A person with 18 years of education is predicted to earn an annual salary of $72,000.”
14.1 Simple Linear Regression
14.2 Errors in Regression
14.3 Multiple Regression