In: Statistics and Probability
Suppose we are interested in knowing the effect of average number of cigarettes smoked by women during pregnancy on infant birth weight ( in ounces). Suppose OLS regression estimates for the intercept and the slope coefficient are given as 119.77 and -.514 respectively.
Interpret and
Let
y: Weight of infant in ounces
x:average number of cigarette smoked during pregnancy
The estimated regression line is given by:
initially we'll interpret the intercept:
If the average number of cigarettes consumed by women during pregnancy was zero that is if x is zero then the estimated weight of the newborn would be 119.77. As the average number of cigarettes can't be negative the maximum weight of the newborn would be119.77 ounces that too if 0 number of average cigarettes are consumed.
Now to interpret the slope value
It can be seen that the value of slope is -0.514 that is it is negative which implies that the weight and the average number of cigarettes are negatively related to each other that is higher the number of average cigarette consumption lower would be the weight of th newborn.
For a unit increase in the average consumption of the number of cigarettes during pregnancy the weight of the newborn is expected to decrease by 0.514 pounds.