Find the equation for the least squares regression line of the data described below.

Greg is a psychology professor studying the effect of media violence on modern culture. As part of his research, he analyzed the content of several recent action movies.
For each movie, he noted the running time (in minutes), x, and the number of explosions, y.
Running time (in minutes) Explosions
82 5
86 7
87 18
90 21
94 27
95 28
Round your answers to the nearest thousandth.
y=
x+

1 answer

To find the least squares regression line for the given data, we need to calculate the slope (m) and the y-intercept (b) of the line \(y = mx + b\).

Given Data

Here's the data provided:

| Running Time (x) | Explosions (y) | |-------------------|----------------| | 82 | 5 | | 86 | 7 | | 87 | 18 | | 90 | 21 | | 94 | 27 | | 95 | 28 |

Step 1: Calculate the necessary sums

We need to compute the following:

  • \(n\) = number of data points
  • \(\sum x\)
  • \(\sum y\)
  • \(\sum xy\)
  • \(\sum x^2\)

Where:

  • \(n = 6\) (the total number of movies)

Let's calculate these sums:

\[ \sum x = 82 + 86 + 87 + 90 + 94 + 95 = 534 \]

\[ \sum y = 5 + 7 + 18 + 21 + 27 + 28 = 106 \]

\[ \sum xy = (82 \cdot 5) + (86 \cdot 7) + (87 \cdot 18) + (90 \cdot 21) + (94 \cdot 27) + (95 \cdot 28) \]

Calculating each term:

  • \(82 \cdot 5 = 410\)
  • \(86 \cdot 7 = 602\)
  • \(87 \cdot 18 = 1566\)
  • \(90 \cdot 21 = 1890\)
  • \(94 \cdot 27 = 2538\)
  • \(95 \cdot 28 = 2660\)

Now adding these results together: \[ \sum xy = 410 + 602 + 1566 + 1890 + 2538 + 2660 = 10566 \]

\[ \sum x^2 = 82^2 + 86^2 + 87^2 + 90^2 + 94^2 + 95^2 \]

Calculating each \(x^2\):

  • \(82^2 = 6724\)
  • \(86^2 = 7396\)
  • \(87^2 = 7569\)
  • \(90^2 = 8100\)
  • \(94^2 = 8836\)
  • \(95^2 = 9025\)

Now adding these: \[ \sum x^2 = 6724 + 7396 + 7569 + 8100 + 8836 + 9025 = 49650 \]

Step 2: Compute the slope (m) and intercept (b)

The formulas for the slope and intercept of the least squares regression line are as follows:

\[ m = \frac{n(\sum xy) - (\sum x)(\sum y)}{n(\sum x^2) - (\sum x)^2} \] \[ b = \frac{(\sum y) - m(\sum x)}{n} \]

Substituting the values: \[ m = \frac{6(10566) - (534)(106)}{6(49650) - (534)^2} \]

Calculating \(m\): \[ m = \frac{63456 - 56604}{297900 - 284556} \] \[ m = \frac{6849}{13344} \approx 0.513 \]

Now, for \(b\):

\[ b = \frac{106 - (0.513)(534)}{6} \] \[ b = \frac{106 - 273.882}{6} \] \[ b = \frac{-167.882}{6} \approx -27.980 \]

Final equation

So, rounding the values to the nearest thousandth:

\[ y \approx 0.513x - 27.980 \]

In conclusion, the least squares regression line is:

\[ y = 0.513x - 27.980 \]