A regression line can be used to show trends in data ATrue B

A regression line can be used to show trends in data. A.)True B.)False

Solution

True

Regression lines can be used as a way of visually depicting the relationship between the independent (x) and dependent (y) variables in the graph. A straight line depicts a linear trend in the data (i.e., the equation describing the line is of first order. For example, y = 3x + 4. There are no squared or cubed variables in this equation). A curved line represents a trend described by a higher order equation (e.g., y = 2x² + 5x - 8). It is important that you are able to defend your use of either a straight or curved regression line. That is, the theory underlying your lab should indicate whether the relationship of the independent and dependent variables should be linear or non-linear.

In addition to visually depicting the trend in the data with a regression line, you can also calculate the equation of the regression line. This equation can either be seen in a dialogue box and/or shown on your graph. How well this equation describes the data (the \'fit\'), is expressed as a correlation coefficient, R² (R-squared). The closer R² is to 1.00, the better the fit. This too can be calculated and displayed in the graph.