How Linear regression algorithm works

Linear regression is a supervised machine learning method that is used by the Train Using AutoML tool and finds a linear equation that best describes the correlation of the explanatory variables with the dependent variable. This is achieved by fitting a line to the data using least squares. The line tries to minimize the sum of the squares of the residuals. The residual is the distance between the line and the actual value of the explanatory variable. Finding the line of best fit is an iterative process.

The following is an example of a resulting linear regression equation:

Linear regression equation

In the example above, y is the dependent variable, and x1, x2, and so on, are the explanatory variables. The coefficients (b1, b2, and so on) explain the correlation of the explanatory variables with the dependent variable. The sign of the coefficients (+/-) designates whether the variable is positively or negatively correlated. b0 is the intercept that indicates the value of the dependent variable assuming all explanatory variables are 0.

In the following image, a linear regression model is described by the regression line y = 153.21 + 900.39x. The model describes the relationship between the dependent variable, Diabetes pregression, and the explanatory variable, Serum triglycerides level. A positive correlation is shown. This example demonstrates a linear regression model with two variables. Although it is not possible to visualize models with more than three variables, practically, a model can have any number of variables.

Linear Regression example

A linear regression model helps in predicting the value of a dependent variable, and it can also help explain how accurate the prediction is. This is denoted by the R-squared and p-value values. The R-squared value indicates how much of the variation in the dependent variable can be explained by the explanatory variable and the p-value explains how reliable that explanation is. The R-squared values range between 0 and 1. A value of 0.8 means that the explanatory variable can explain 80 percent of the variation in the observed values of the dependent variable. A value of 1 means that a perfect prediction can be made, which is rare in practice. A value of 0 means the explanatory variable doesn't help at all in predicting the dependent variable. Using a p-value, you can test whether the explanatory variable's effect on the dependent variable is significantly different from 0.

Additional Resources

Linear Regression for Machine Learning

Linear Regression in Machine Learning

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