The Purpose of Regression

The regression function involves predicting the output based on

$$ f(x) = w_1\phi_1(x) + w_2\phi_2(x) + ... w_n\phi_n(x) $$

This equation can also be represented in the following form

$$ f(x) = \phi(x)^Tw $$

The hope is that the predicted output of $f(x)$ is as close to the real values of $y$.

For illustration purposes, say we have the following

Model 1 Results

x y_predicted y_real error
1 4 5 1
2 4 4 0
3 10 8 -2

Model 2 Results

x y_predicted y_real error
1 20 5 15
2 40 4 36
3 50 8 -42

In this case, we can see that the first model $f_1(x)$ gives better results than the second model $f_2(x)$ becomes the predicted value is closer to the real value.

The Components of Regression

Let’s break down the components of the regression formula for a deeper understanding