PREDICTING VALUES FROM THE REGRESSION LINE

The equation for the least squares regression line for a dependent variable Y and an independent variable X is

Predicted Y = 10.24 + .27 — X

where 10.24 is the intercept, .27 is the slope of the X, and of course the predicted Y is the value expected based on the calculated numbers. (The numerical numbers are used here for the purpose of explaining the format of the equation. In real terms, these are the numbers that we are trying to identify with the regression analysis.)

Once you have a regression equation, it is easy to obtain predicted values. All you have to do is substitute the value of the independent variable into the equation.