Data Fits Overview
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Graphs that allow this function

You can add a line or curve to your graph to represent a theoretical distribution or to visualize general trends. Minitab provides three methods to model your data:

·    Distribution - Fits a theoretical distribution, such as the normal distribution, to the data. You can provide historical estimates of the distribution parameters, or Minitab can estimate the parameters from the data.

·    Regression - Fits a least-squares regression line to the data. You can fit linear, quadratic, or cubic models.

·    Smoother - Fits a lowess curve to the data.

You can add a fitted line while creating a graph, or after the graph is created (see Adding Graph Elements). After creating a graph, you can change the line attributes and fit parameters (see Editing Data Fits Overview).

Data Fit

Example

 

Distribution

You can fit one of 14 distributions to your data to help you determine whether the data can be adequately modeled by the selected distribution.

Regression

You can use a regression fit to examine the relationship between the response variable (y) and the predictor variable (x).

Lowess Smoother

You can use a lowess smoother to explore the relationship between two variables without fitting a specific model.