Evaluate the statement Regression is such a basic technique

Evaluate the statement “Regression is such a basic technique that it should always be used in analyzing data.” Support your claims with examples from required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references

Solution

The statement is not always true.

If we are using n-tuple data where one or more variables may be causally dependent upon rest of the variables, we may use regression model.

Suppose we have data on (y,x₁,x₂,...,x_p) where y may be causally related to x₁,x₂,...,x_p only then we may fit a regression model such as Y=predicted value of y = f(x₁,x₂,...,x_p).

For example data on height and weight of 50 students in a class are given. Since weight depends on height we may fit a regression of weight on height and check the degree of dependence.

But if the shoe size and grade in exam of those 50 stuedents are given, we see that there is no causal relationship between these two varibles. Hence fitting a regression model is inappropriate here, although it may happen that there may be good fit. Here studying regression is meaningless.

Hence regression must be used with care. Before using regression one must check for causal relationship between the variables.