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12_045206 ch07.qxd  2/1/07  9:54 AM  Page 141
                                                                         Residual Plots for Quiz score
                                                         Normal Probability Plot of the Residuals
                                                                                             Residuals Versus the Fitted Values
                                                                                        Standardized Residual
                                                       99
                                                                                        2
                                                       90
                                                                                        1
                                                      Percent
                                                       50
                                                                                        0
                                                                                       −1
                                                       10
                                                                                       −2
                                                        1
                                                                                                            7.5
                                                                                                                 10.0
                                                                                                     5.0
                                                                                         0.0
                                                                                               2.5
                                                                −1
                                                           −2
                                                                           1
                                                                                2
                                                                      0
                                                                                                    Fitted Value
                                                                Standardized Residual
                                           Figure 7-7:
                                                                                            Residuals Versus the Order of the Data
                                                             Histogram of the Residuals
                                           Standard-
                                                                                        2
                                                                                       Standardized Residual
                                                      4.8
                                         ized residual
                                                                                        1
                                          plots for the
                                                     Frequency
                                                      3.6
                                           quiz-score
                                                                                        0
                                                      2.4
                                               data,
                                                                                       −1
                                                      1.2
                                            using the
                                                                                       −2
                                            quadratic Chapter 7: When Data Throws You a Curve: Using Nonlinear Regression  141
                                                      0.0
                                              model.      −2    −1    0    1    2          2  4  6  8  10 12 14  16 18  20
                                                                Standardized Residual             Observation Order
                                                    Returning to the quiz-score data from previous sections, can you use study
                                                    time to predict quiz score by using a quadratic regression model? By looking
                                                                                  2
                                                    at the scatterplot and the value of R adjusted (see Figures 7-5 and 7-6, respec-
                                                    tively), you can see the quadratic regression model appears to fit the data well
                                                    (isn’t it nice when you find something that fits?). By looking at the residual
                                                    plots (Figure 7-7), the conditions seem to be met to fit this model; you can find
                                                    no major patterns in the residuals, they appear to center at one, and most of
                                                    them stay within the normal boundaries of standardized residuals: –2 and +2.
                                                    With all this evidence together, study time does appear to have a quadratic
                                                    relationship with quiz score in this case. You can now use the model to make
                                                    estimates of quiz score given study time. For example, because the model
                                                                                          2
                                                    (shown in Figure 7-5) is y = 9.82 – 6.15x + 1.00x , if your study time is 5.5 hours,
                                                                                                       2
                                                    then your estimated quiz score is 9.82 – 6.15  5.5 + 1.00  5.5 = 9.82 – 33.83 +
                                                                                                   *
                                                                                         *
                                                    30.25 = 6.25. That value corresponds to what you see on the graph in Figure 7-3
                                                    if you look at the place where x = 5.5; the y-values are in the vicinity of 6 to 7.
                                                    As with any regression model, you can’t estimate the value of y for x-values
                                                    outside the range of where data was collected. This error is called extrapola-
                                                    tion. You can’t be sure that the model you fit to your data actually continues
                                                    ad infinitum for any old value of x. In the quiz-score example (see Figure 7-3), it
                                                    doesn’t make sense to estimate quiz scores for study times higher than six
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