The square of the sample correlation is equal to the ratio of the model
sum of squares to the total sum of squares: r² = SSM/SST.
This formalizes the interpretation of r² as explaining the fraction of variability
in the data explained by the regression model.
The sample variance sy² is equal to
(yi -
)²/(n - 1) = SST/DFT,
the total sum of squares divided by the total degrees of freedom (DFT).
For simple linear regression, the MSM (mean square model) =
(i -
)²/(1) = SSM/DFM, since
the simple linear regression model has one explanatory variable x.
The corresponding MSE (mean square error) = (yi -
i)²/(n - 2) = SSE/DFE,
the estimate of the variance about the population regression line
(²).
ANOVA calculations are displayed in an analysis of variance table, which has the following format for simple linear regression:
Source Degrees of Freedom Sum of squares Mean Square F Model 1 (i-)² SSM/DFM MSM/MSE Error n - 2 (yi-i)² SSE/DFETotal n - 1 (yi-)² SST/DFTThe "F" column provides a statistic for testing the hypothesis that 1 0 against the null hypothesis that 1 = 0. The test statistic is the ratio MSM/MSE, the mean square model term divided by the mean square error term. When the MSM term is large relative to the MSE term, then the ratio is large and there is evidence against the null hypothesis.
For simple linear regression, the statistic MSM/MSE has an F distribution with degrees of freedom (DFM, DFE) = (1, n - 2).
Example
The dataset "Healthy Breakfast" contains, among other variables, the Consumer Reports ratings of 77 cereals and the number of grams of sugar contained in each serving. (Data source: Free publication available in many grocery stores. Dataset available through the Statlib Data and Story Library (DASL).)Considering "Sugars" as the explanatory variable and "Rating" as the response variable generated the following regression line:
Rating = 59.3 - 2.40 Sugars (see Inference in Linear Regression for more information about this example).The "Analysis of Variance" portion of the MINITAB output is shown below. The degrees of freedom are provided in the "DF" column, the calculated sum of squares terms are provided in the "SS" column, and the mean square terms are provided in the "MS" column.
Analysis of Variance Source DF SS MS F P Regression 1 8654.7 8654.7 102.35 0.000 Error 75 6342.1 84.6 Total 76 14996.8In the ANOVA table for the "Healthy Breakfast" example, the F statistic is equal to 8654.7/84.6 = 102.35. The distribution is F(1, 75), and the probability of observing a value greater than or equal to 102.35 is less than 0.001. There is strong evidence that 1 is not equal to zero.
The r² term is equal to 0.577, indicating that 57.7% of the variability in the response is explained by the explanatory variable.
ANOVA for Multiple Linear Regression
Multiple linear regression attempts to fit a regression line for a response variable using more than one explanatory variable. The ANOVA calculations for multiple regression are nearly identical to the calculations for simple linear regression, except that the degrees of freedom are adjusted to reflect the number of explanatory variables included in the model.For p explanatory variables, the model degrees of freedom (DFM) are equal to p, the error degrees of freedom (DFE) are equal to (n - p - 1), and the total degrees of freedom (DFT) are equal to (n - 1), the sum of DFM and DFE.
The corresponding ANOVA table is shown below:
Source Degrees of Freedom Sum of squares Mean Square F Model p (i-)² SSM/DFM MSM/MSE Error n - p - 1 (yi-i)² SSE/DFETotal n - 1 (yi-)² SST/DFTIn multiple regression, the test statistic MSM/MSE has an F(p, n - p - 1) distribution.
The null hypothesis states that 1 = 2 = ... = p = 0, and the alternative hypothesis simply states that at least one of the parameters j 0, j = 1, 2, ,,, p. Large values of the test statistic provide evidence against the null hypothesis.
Note: The F test does not indicate which of the parameters j is not equal to zero, only that at least one of them is linearly related to the response variable.
The ratio SSM/SST = R² is known as the squared multiple correlation coefficient. This value is the proportion of the variation in the response variable that is explained by the response variables. The square root of R² is called the multiple correlation coefficient, the correlation between the observations yi and the fitted values i.
Example
The "Healthy Breakfast" dataset contains, among other variables, the Consumer Reports ratings of 77 cereals, the number of grams of sugar contained in each serving, and the number of grams of fat contained in each serving. (Data source: Free publication available in many grocery stores. Dataset available through the Statlib Data and Story Library (DASL).)As a simple linear regression model, we previously considered "Sugars" as the explanatory variable and "Rating" as the response variable. How do the ANOVA results change when "FAT" is added as a second explanatory variable?
The regression line generated by the inclusion of "Sugars" and "Fat" is the following:
Rating = 61.1 - 2.21 Sugars - 3.07 Fat (see Multiple Linear Regression for more information about this example).The "Analysis of Variance" portion of the MINITAB output is shown below. The degrees of freedom are provided in the "DF" column, the calculated sum of squares terms are provided in the "SS" column, and the mean square terms are provided in the "MS" column.
Analysis of Variance Source DF SS MS F P Regression 2 9325.3 4662.6 60.84 0.000 Error 74 5671.5 76.6 Total 76 14996.8 Source DF Seq SS Sugars 1 8654.7 Fat 1 670.5The mean square error term is smaller with "Fat" included, indicating less deviation between the observed and fitted values. The P-value for the F test statistic is less than 0.001, providing strong evidence against the null hypothesis. The squared multiple correlation R² = SSM/SST = 9325.3/14996.8 = 0.622, indicating that 62.2% of the variability in the "Ratings" variable is explained by the "Sugars" and "Fat" variables. This is an improvement over the simple linear model including only the "Sugars" variable.