least squares

pl.n. Statistics

A method of determining the curve that best describes the relationship between expected and observed sets of data by minimizing the sums of the squares of deviation between observed and expected values.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

least squares

(Mathematics) a method for determining the best value of an unknown quantity relating one or more sets of observations or measurements, esp to find a curve that best fits a set of data. It states that the sum of the squares of the deviations of the experimentally determined value from its optimum value should be a minimum

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

least′ squares′

a statistical method of estimating values from a set of observations by minimizing the sum of the squares of the differences between the observations and the values to be found.

Also called least′-squares′ meth`od.

[1860–65]

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Noun

least squares - a method of fitting a curve to data points so as to minimize the sum of the squares of the distances of the points from the curve

method of least squares

statistics - a branch of applied mathematics concerned with the collection and interpretation of quantitative data and the use of probability theory to estimate population parameters

statistical method, statistical procedure - a method of analyzing or representing statistical data; a procedure for calculating a statistic

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References in periodicals archive

Next ordinary least squares regression model was developed by using the aspatial diagnostics to compare different models i.e.

Correlates of being sick or injured in under five-year old children by district in Pakistan: A spatial analysis case study

Multicollinearity, Ridge, Principal components, Least squares, Japanese quail.

Multicollinearity Problem and Bias Estimates in Japanese Quail

The recursion least squares method is applied to the load inertia estimation during AMT startup.

Study on Load Parameters Estimation during AMT Startup

The mathematics underpinning the calculation of the equation of the straight line of best fit in the least squares sense (or regression line) is not explained in the text.

Towards a relational understanding of the regression line

Many iterative algorithms for system identification are based on the gradient method [31]and the least squares method [32-35].

The Hierarchical Iterative Identification Algorithm for Multi-Input-Output-Error Systems with Autoregressive Noise

In order to study the statistical relationship between dependent variables Y = [[y.sub.1], [y.sub.2], ..., [y.sub.q]] and the independent variables X = [[x.sub.1], [x.sub.2], ..., [x.sub.p]], partial least squares regression (PLS) analysis using principal component analysis tools, it first in the independent variable system X, extraction of a principal component of t, while the dependent variable Y system in the extraction of a principal component of u.

Analysis of partial least squares modeling and multiple collinear ability evaluation: theoretical deduction and case analysis

Recursive least squares provides a method so that the previous solution is utilized while only requiring the computation of an inverse whose square size is equal to the number of coefficients being estimated.

Control and optimization of vapor compression systems using recursive estimation

Partial least squares calibration models showed correlation coefficients of greater than 0.8 and standard errors of cross-validation for pH of 0.086, for Brix of 0.11, for serum viscosity of 89.2 cSt, for Bostwick consistency of 1.2 cm, for reducing sugars of 1.8 mg per mL, for ascorbic acid of 0.9 mg per 100 g and for lycopene of 11.7 ppm.

Portable mid-infrared spectroscopy yields rapid multicomponent analysis of tomatoes

The term [N.sub.[DELTA]g] can be calculated using the Fast Fourier Transform or the least squares collocation method (Lyszkowicz, 2012; Krynski, 2007).

Geoid determination for the area of Poland by the least squares modification of Stokes' formula

This paper develops least squares Legendre and Chebyshev spectral methods for the first order system of Stokes-Darcy equations.

Least squares spectral method for velocity-flux form of the coupled stokes-darcy equations