"David Heiser" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]: > Our term "regression" for fitting an equation to data, comes from > his observation that the heights of offspring is on the average less > than the heights of either parent. In other words, there is a > regression of the parents height.
Not "less than." Less *extreme* than, i.e. closer to the mean. Less in absolute value if you mean-center the heights. Taller-than-average or shorter-than-average parents are likely to have children with closer-to- average heights, *not* children whose heights are correspondingly on the other side of the mean, e.g. taller-than-average parents are *not* especially likely to have shorter-than-average children. In fact their children are likely to be taller-than-average as well, just not by as much as their parents. . . ================================================================= Instructions for joining and leaving this list, remarks about the problem of INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES, and archives are available at: . http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/ . =================================================================
