The basics of Regression Analysis

Up until this section of the course, we examined tools that help us answer the where questions. Where are crimes occurring? Where do wildfires cluster? Where are the hot spots for real estate sales? However, you may have noticed that these tools don't help determine the why questions. The regression tools found in the Modeling Spatial Relationships toolset help with the logical progression of obtaining a deeper understanding of our problem. Tools such as Ordinary Least Squares and Exploratory Regression help us determine the variables that explain why an observed pattern is present. These explanatory variables can lead to the development of models that can predict the occurrence of these patterns in other places.

Why use Regression Analysis?

There are essentially three reasons to use Regression Analysis. The first is to gain an understanding of a phenomenon and effect policy or make decisions about appropriate actions to take. The next is to create predictive...