How To Analyze The Regression Analysis Output From Excel

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How to Analyze the Regression Analysis Output from Excel
In a simple regression model, we determine if variable Y is linearly dependent on variable X, meaning that whenever X changes, Y also changes linearly. A linear relationship is a straight line relationship, expressed as Y = α + βX + e. Here, Y is the dependent variable, and X is the independent variable. α is the intercept of the regression line, and β is the slope of the regression line. e is the random disturbance term.
The equation Y = α + βX (ignoring the disturbance term “e”) gives the average relationship between the values of Y and X. For example, if Y is the cost of goods sold and X is the sales, and α = 2 and β = 0.75, and if the sales are 100, i.e., X = 100, the cost of goods sold would be, on average, 2 + 0.75(100) = 77. However, in any particular year when sales X = 100, the actual cost of goods sold can deviate randomly around 77. This deviation from the average is called the “disturbance” or the “error” and is represented by “e”.
Also, in the equation Y = 2 + 0.75X + e, i.e., Cost of goods sold = 2 + 0.75 (sales) + e, the interpretation is that the cost of goods sold increases by 0.75 times the increase in sales. For example, if the sales increase by 20, the cost of goods sold increases, on average, by 0.75 (20) = 15. In general, we are much more interested in the value of the slope of the regression line, β, than in the value of the intercept, α.
Suppose we are trying to determine if there is a relationship between two variables that apparently have no relationship, say the sales of a firm and the average height of employees of the firm. We would set up an equation like the following: Y = α + βX + e, where Y = sales of the firm, X = average height of employees, α = intercept of the regression line, β = slope of the regression line, and e = disturbance term. Then, we would collect a sample of data from a number of firms regarding sales and average height of employees.

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