Introducing statistical regression

As promised, let's get going in this chapter with a section that provides a clear explanation of what statistical regression is.

For starters, statistical regression is also routinely referred to as regression analysis and is a process for estimating the relationships among variables. This process encompasses numerous techniques for modeling and analyzing variables, focusing on the relationship between a dependent variable and one (or more) independent variables (or predictors).

So specifically, regression analysis is the work done to identify and understand how the (best representative) value of a dependent variable (a variable that depends on other factors) changes when any one of the independent variables (a variable that stands alone and isn't changed by the other variables) is changed while the other independent variables stay the same.

A simple example might be how the total dollars spent on marketing (an independent variable example) impacts the total...