Lesson 3

Interpretation of the
Slope and -intercept of
the Regression Line
 Objectives

At the end of this lesson, the learner should be able to

 
● accurately solve for the slope of a regression line;

● accurately solve for the -intercept of a regression

line, and

● correctly interpret the slope and -intercept of a

regression line.
 Essential Questions
 

● In what different contexts is the -intercept of a regression

line not useful?

● How will you interpret a regression line with a zero slope?

 Warm Up!

Before
•   we learn how to interpret the slope and -intercept of
the regression line, let’s recall the slope-intercept form of a
line by working on the following online exercise.

(Click the link to access the exercise.)

“Slope-intercept intro.” Khan Academy. Retrieved 18

September 2019 from http://bit.ly/2L2qhfI.
 Guide Questions

● How do you find the slope of a line?

 

● How do you find the -intercept of a line?

● How do you determine the direction (e.g., rising to the left)

of a line?
 Learn about It!

 
Regression Line
1 a linear equation expressed as , where is the slope, is the -intercept, is the
independent variable, and is the dependent variable

 
Recall that the slope-intercept form of a linear equation is
, where is the slope and is the y-intercept.
 Learn about It!

 
Regression Line
1 a linear equation expressed as , where is the slope, is the -intercept, is the
independent variable, and is the dependent variable

 
Example:

In the regression line , the slope is

, while the -intercept is .
 Learn about It!

 
Slope of the Regression Line
2 tells the kind of correlation between the independent and dependent variables
and how much the dependent variable changes as the independent variable
changes. If the slope is positive, there is a positive correlation, while if the slope is
negative, there is a negative correlation. For every one-point increase in , the
value of is increased by , and vice versa. Similarly, for every one-point decrease in
, the value of is decreased by .
 
Example:
In the regression line , there is a negative correlation between
the independent and dependent variables.
 Learn about It!

 
-intercept of the Regression Line
3 the -intercept is the value of when the independent variable is

 
Example:

In the regression line , the value of is 21.752 when the

independent variable is .
 Try It!

Example 1: Describe the kind of correlation between the

 

independent variable and the dependent variable with the

regression line .
 Try It!

Solution:
 

Since the slope of the regression line

is negative, there is a negative correlation between the
independent variable and the dependent variable .
 Try It!

Example 2:
 

Given the following table of values of

the independent variable and the 9 4
dependent variable , determine the 6 2
equation of the regression line at. 4 1
Then, interpret the calculated slope
and -intercept. 7 3
8 2
15 5
19 6
21 7
 Try It!

Solution:
 

1. Solve for the correlation coefficient .

Use the formula for .

Try It!

9
9 4
4 81
81 16
16 36
36
6
6 2
2 36
36 4
4 12
12
4
4 1
1 16
16 1
1 4
4
7
7 3
3 49
49 9
9 21
21
8
8 2
2 64
64 4
4 16
16
15
15 5
5 225
225 25
25 75
75
19 6 361 36 114
19 6 361 36 114
21 7 441 49 147
21 7 441 49 147
 Try It!

Solution:
 
 Try It!

Solution:
 

2. Test the significance of the correlation coefficient .

 
Formulate the null and the alternative hypotheses.
 
There is no significant relationship between the
independent variable and the dependent variable .
 
There is a significant relationship between the
independent variable and the dependent variable .
 Try It!

Solution:
 

The test is two-tailed and the degrees of freedom is

. From the -table, we see that at
with , the critical values are . Thus, the rejection region lies at
and .
 Try It!

Solution:
 

Now, we solve for the test statistic to value. 

 
 Try It!

Solution:
 

 
Since , we reject . Thus, there is a relationship between the
independent variable and the dependent variable .
 Try It!

Solution:
 

3. Find the equation of the regression line.

The regression line is written as . We must find the values

of the slope and the -intercept . We use their
corresponding formulas.
 
 Try It!

Solution:
 

3. Find the equation of the regression line.

 Try It!

Solution:
 

3. Find the equation of the regression line.

 Try It!

Solution:
 

Substitute the values of and into the regression line

equation . Therefore, the equation of the regression line is .
 Try It!

Solution:
 

4. Interpret the calculated slope and -intercept.

From the regression line equation , we see that the slope

is positive. Thus, there is a positive correlation between
the independent variable and dependent variable. The
-intercept tells us that the value of the dependent variable
when the independent variable is is .
 Let’s Practice!

Individual Practice:
 

1. Describe the kind of correlation between the independent

variable and the dependent variable with the regression
line .

2. Your classmate Reginald said that the correlation being

described by the line is positive because the slope is
positive. Is Reginald correct? How could you correct his
answer and explanation?
 Let’s Practice!

Group Practice: To be done in groups of four

 

Mr. Calip wants to confirm if the Statistics grades of his

advisory class can be used to predict their grades in
Quantitative Research. Shown in a table of values below are
grades of six students in Statistics and Quantitative Research.
 
Plot the given table of values in a scatter plot. Then,
determine and graph the equation of the regression line at .
Lastly, interpret the calculated slope and
-intercept.
Let’s Practice!

Grade in Quantitative
Research
81 85
93
93 90
90
72
72 75
75
96
96 97
97
85 87
85 87
75 77
75 77
Key Points

 
Regression Line
1 a linear equation expressed as , where is the slope, is the -intercept, is the
independent variable, and is the dependent variable

 
Slope of the Regression Line
2 tells the kind of correlation between the independent and dependent variables
and how much the dependent variable changes as the independent variable
changes. If the slope is positive, there is a positive correlation, while if the slope is
negative, there is a negative correlation. For every one-point increase in , the
value of is increased by , and vice versa. Similarly, for every one-point decrease in
, the value of is decreased by .
Key Points

 
-intercept of the Regression Line
3 the -intercept is the value of when the independent variable is
 Synthesis
 
● How do you interpret the slope and -intercept of a
regression line?

● What are the difficulties you encountered while solving for

the slope and -intercept of a regression line? How did you
overcome them?

● How can the regression line be used in real-life situations

to predict the value of the dependent variable given the
value of the independent variable?