Definition
Line of fit
A line of fit is a straight model that follows the central direction of a scatter pattern.
View exact chart data
| Light | Height |
|---|---|
| 1 | 3 |
| 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 6 |
| 5 | 8 |
| 6 | 9 |
| 7 | 11 |
What it means
Picture the scatter points as a loose cloud. A useful hand-drawn line runs near the middle, with points reasonably balanced above and below. You can use the line to estimate one value from the other, but the estimate is not exact.
Remember it
Through the middle of the cloud, not dot-to-dot.
Example
In a height-and-arm-span scatter plot, a line near arm span = height runs through the middle of the points. At a height of 142 cm, the line estimates an arm span of about 142 cm.
Watch for
Connecting scatter points in the order they were collected makes a path through the observations, not a line of fit.
Common mix-up
“Best fit” does not mean every point fits. It means the line represents the overall pattern well.
Exact meaning
A line of fit is a straight line drawn or calculated for bivariate numerical data to model its overall linear association and support estimates. It represents the point cloud rather than passing through every point.