Chapter 47

Estimating straight-line relationships

Questions answered in this chapter:

  • How can I determine the relationship between monthly production and monthly operating costs?

  • How accurately does this relationship explain the monthly variation in plant operating costs?

  • How accurate are my predictions likely to be?

  • When estimating a straight-line relationship, which functions can I use to get the slope and intercept of the line that best fits the data?

Suppose you manage a plant that manufactures small refrigerators. The team at corporate headquarters tells you how many refrigerators to produce each month. For budgeting purposes, you want to forecast your monthly operating costs—meaning you need answers to the questions that are the focus ...

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