This document discusses methods for analyzing the relationship between two quantitative variables, including:
- Scatter diagrams can show the relationship and be used to identify if the variables are positively or negatively correlated.
- The linear correlation coefficient, r, quantifies the strength of the linear relationship between -1 and 1, where values closer to -1 or 1 indicate a stronger negative or positive correlation, respectively.
- Least-squares regression finds the best-fitting straight line to describe the linear relationship between two variables by minimizing the sum of the squared residuals. It can be used to make predictions, but may not be accurate far outside the original data range.