

A Visual Explanation of OLS Regression - vicapow
http://setosa.io/ev/ordinary-least-squares-regression/index.html

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vicapow
Also, if you're in SF and are interested in learning more about d3.js, one of
the primary libraries that we used to build EV, we'll be teaching a 1 day
workshop May 2nd geared towards people comfortable with data but haven't
gotten deep into web programming. We'll also be using "explorable explanation"
style techniques along the way.

Have a look at our preliminary workshop demos for an example:
[https://vicapow.github.io/d3-1-day-
workshop/](https://vicapow.github.io/d3-1-day-workshop/)

I promise the demos will get more advanced and start incorporating data before
the workshop :)

You can apply to the workshop here:
[https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1VgBUu7znZVllkVw2d6TISzsTjGD...](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1VgBUu7znZVllkVw2d6TISzsTjGDDviPF3vbo-
Zlz6ME/viewform)

The application process is to ensure everyone's at about the same level. If
you're accepted, the ticket is $99 and includes food and refreshments.

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harperlee
Great visualization (as the rest from [http://setosa.io](http://setosa.io) ,
go have a look)!!

I wonder, though: I learnt OLS as standard math / symbolic logic; but, if kids
and students learnt from these visualization, would they be better off, or
worse off?

Because, at least for me, it is difficult to reason about this and other
visual math examples (whereas there are others that are great as
demonstrations, as the integer proof in [http://www.catonmat.net/blog/visual-
math-friday/](http://www.catonmat.net/blog/visual-math-friday/) , this one,
regarding OLS, _confuses_ me).

It probably depends a lot on each person. Out of curiosity, does this
particular example give you insights? Which ones? How?

~~~
vicapow
I think it's important to remember that, for at least EV, these explanations
aren't intended to stand on their own. There's a lot of good resources online
already for learning this stuff. The problem, as we see it, is one of
motivation and curiosity. If we can help people intuit what's happening and
why it's important, we think this will help motivate people to want to get
more into the details on their own.

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huac
love it. a cool feature for the visualizations after the first would be to
show the SSE for the OLS line vs whatever configuration you picked.

