Quiz: Excel Regression
1. When importing a text file into Excel, there are two options: Delimited or Fixed Width to indicate how the columns of data are separated. In the case of a text file with data separated by commas, which option would you likely select?
A. Comma Delimited
- Correct. Excel uses the comma to separate data rows into individual cells.
B. Fixed Width
- Incorrect. The data is separated by commas, not necessarily fixed width in spacing.
C. Tab Delimited
- Incorrect. Tab delimited is also a common way to separate data. However, commas are used in this data import.
2. What are some of the possible delimiters for parsing a data text file into Excel? Select all that apply.
A. Tab
- Correct.
B. Semi-colon
- Correct.
C. Comma
- Correct.
D. Space
- Correct.
E. Any character or phrase as indicated by "Other:"
- Correct.
3. What option do you select from an Excel scatter plot to add a linear or polynomial correlation to a data series?
A. Add Data Labels
- Incorrect. Add trendline to create a linear or polynomial fit.
B. Add Trendline
- Correct.
C. Format Data Series
- Incorrect. Add trendline to create a linear or polynomial fit.
4. What is a possible objective function for nonlinear regression when the model cannot fit the data perfectly?
A. Minimize the sum of (y predicted - y measured)
- Incorrect. Either use the absolute value of the error or squared error.
B. Minimize the sum of (y predicted - y measured)^2
- Correct. Minimize the sum of squared errors or sum of absolute error.
C. Require that the sum of (y predicted - y measured)^2 = 0
- Incorrect. It is likely not be possible to find a solution that makes the error exactly equal to zero. It is best to minimize the error and it may find a zero solution, if possible.
