The goal of finding the “line of best fit” in simple linear regression is to:

Question

 The goal of finding the “line of best fit” in simple linear regression is to:

A. Increase the X values.

B. Increase the Y values.

C. Minimize the predicted values.

D. Minimize the residuals.

Answer 1

D. Minimize the residuals.

You want the best fit line to minimize the residuals, also understood as the difference between the predicted values (from your regression equation) and the observed values (the actual values obtained from your data) so that it is best representing your data.