Chapter 15. Correlation and Regression: What’s My Line?

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Have you ever wondered how two things are connected?

So far we’ve looked at statistics that tell you about just one variable—like men’s height, points scored by basketball players, or how long gumball flavor lasts—but there are other statistics that tell you about the connection between variables. Seeing how things are connected can give you a lot of information about the real world, information that you can use to your advantage. Stay with us while we show you the key to spotting connections: correlation and regression.

Never trust the weather

Concerts are best when they’re in the open air—at least that’s what these groovy guys think. They have a thriving business organizing open-air concerts, and ticket sales for the summer look promising.

Today’s concert looks like it will be one of their best ones ever. The band has just started rehearsing, but there’s a cloud on the horizon...

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Before too long the sky’s overcast, temperatures are dipping, and it looks like rain. Even worse, ticket sales are hit. The guys are in trouble, and they can’t afford for this to happen again.

What the guys want is to be able to predict what concert attendance ...

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