regression toward the mean

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Noun

1.

regression toward the mean - the relation between selected values of x and observed values of y (from which the most probable value of y can be predicted for any value of x) simple regression, statistical regression, regression 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 regression analysis - the use of regression to make quantitative predictions of one variable from the values of another linear regression, rectilinear regression - the relation between variables when the regression equation is linear: e.g., y = ax + b curvilinear regression - the relation between variables when the regression equation is nonlinear (quadratic or higher order)