Relationship Between r and R-squared in Linear Regression – QUANTIFYING HEALTH (2024)

By George Choueiry / April 1, 2020

R-squared is a measure of how well a linear regression model fits the data. It can be interpreted as the proportion of variance of the outcome Y explained by the linear regression model.

It is a number between 0 and 1 (0 ≤ R2 ≤ 1). The closer its value is to 1, the more variability the model explains. And R2 = 0 means that the model cannot explain any variability in the outcome Y.

On the other hand, the correlation coefficient r is a measure that quantifies the strength of the linear relationship between 2 variables.

r is a number between -1 and 1 (-1 ≤ r ≤ 1):

  • A value of r close to -1: means that there is negative correlation between the variables (when one increases the other decreases and vice versa)
  • A value of r close to 0: indicates that the 2 variables are not correlated (no linear relationship exists between them)
  • A value of r close to 1: indicates a positive linear relationship between the 2 variables (when one increases, the other does)

Here are 3 plots that show the relationship between 2 variables with different correlation coefficients:

  • The left one was drawn with a coefficient r = 0.80
  • The middle one with r = -0.09
  • And the right one with r = -0.76:
Relationship Between r and R-squared in Linear Regression – QUANTIFYING HEALTH (1)

Below we will discuss the relationship between r and R2 in the context of linear regression without diving too deep into the mathematical details.

We start with the special case of a simple linear regression and then discuss the more general case of a multiple linear regression.

R-squared vs r in the case of a simple linear regression

We’ve seen that both r and R-squared measure the strength of the linear relationship between 2 variables, so how do they relate in the case of a simple linear regression?

When we’re dealing with a simple linear regression:

Y = β0 + β1X+ ε

R-squared will be the square of the correlation between the independent variable X and the outcome Y:

R2 = Cor(X, Y) 2

R-squared vs r in the case of multiple linear regression

In simple linear regression we had 1 independent variable X and 1 dependent variable Y, so calculating the the correlation between X and Y was no problem.

In multiple linear regression we have more than 1 independent variable X, therefore we cannot calculate r between more than 1 X and Y.

When dealing with multiple linear regression:

Y = β0 + β1X1 + β2X2 + β3X3 + β4X4 + … + ε

R-squared will be the square of the correlation between the predicted/fitted values of the linear regression (Ŷ) and the outcome (Y):

R2 = Cor(Ŷ, Y) 2

Note that in the special case of the simple linear regression:
Cor( X, Ŷ) = 1
So:
Cor( X, Y ) = Cor( Ŷ, Y )

Which is why, in that special case:
R2 = Cor( Ŷ, Y ) 2 = Cor( X, Y ) 2

Further reading

Relationship Between r and R-squared in Linear Regression – QUANTIFYING HEALTH (2024)

FAQs

What is the relationship between R and R-squared in linear regression? ›

The correlation, denoted by r, measures the amount of linear association between two variables. r is always between -1 and 1 inclusive. The R-squared value, denoted by R 2, is the square of the correlation.

What is the R-squared in healthcare? ›

R2 is a measure of the percentage of total variation in the dependant variable that is accounted for by the independent variable. An R2 of 1.0 indicates that the data perfectly fit the linear model.

What is the relationship between multiple R and R square? ›

Multiple R: The multiple correlation coefficient between three or more variables. R-Squared: This is calculated as (Multiple R)2 and it represents the proportion of the variance in the response variable of a regression model that can be explained by the predictor variables. This value ranges from 0 to 1.

What is the relationship between Pearson R and R-squared? ›

The coefficient of determination, r2, is the square of the Pearson correlation coefficient r (i.e., r2). So, for example, a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.6 would result in a coefficient of determination of 0.36, (i.e., r2 = 0.6 x 0.6 = 0.36).

What does R-squared tell you in linear regression? ›

R-squared is a statistical measure that indicates how much of the variation of a dependent variable is explained by an independent variable in a regression model.

What is the difference between R and R2 in linear regression? ›

Unlike correlation (R) which measures the strength of the association between two variables, R-squared indicates the variation in data explained by the relationship between an independent variable. read more and a dependent variable. R2 value ranges from 0 to 1 and is expressed in percentage.

What is the use of R in healthcare? ›

Current Trends of R in Pharma:

R is, however, commonly used in programs in public health, healthcare economics, and exploratory/scientific research, detection of patterns, Plots/Graphs generation, basic Stat analysis and machine learning. For CDISC (SDTM, ADaM) datasets creation, R is not commonly used.

What does a R mean in healthcare? ›

Accounts receivable in healthcare (A/R) are the invoices or reimbursem*nts owed to a medical practice, hospital or other healthcare organization. These unpaid accounts may include outstanding patient invoices or insurance company reimbursem*nts.

Is higher R-squared better or worse? ›

In general, the higher the R-squared, the better the model fits your data.

What does multiple R-squared tell us? ›

Also known as coefficient of determination, multiple R-squared is the proportion of the variation in dependent variable that can be explained by the independent variables. It provides a measure of how well observed outcomes are replicated by the model.

What is the relationship between R-squared and sample size? ›

Adjusted R-squared does this by comparing the sample size to the number of terms in your regression model. Regression models that have many samples per term produce a better R-squared estimate and require less shrinkage. Conversely, models that have few samples per term require more shrinkage to correct the bias.

What is the relationship between R-squared and effect size? ›

Both r and r2 are standardized effect size measures and the reliabilities of the measures of the variables have a strong influence on standardized effect size measures.

What does the R value indicate in Pearson correlation? ›

Pearson's r can range from −1 to 1. An r of −1 indicates a perfect negative linear relationship between variables, an r of 0 indicates no linear relationship between variables, and an r of 1 indicates a perfect positive linear relationship between variables.

What is the correlation between two values R? ›

Pearson correlation (r), which measures a linear dependence between two variables (x and y). It's also known as a parametric correlation test because it depends to the distribution of the data. It can be used only when x and y are from normal distribution. The plot of y = f(x) is named the linear regression curve.

Is Pearson R and R value the same? ›

The Pearson correlation coefficient or as it denoted by r is a measure of any linear trend between two variables. The value of r ranges between −1 and 1. When r = zero, it means that there is no linear association between the variables.

What is the relationship between the R2 value and the squared residuals? ›

To calculate R2 you need to find the sum of the residuals squared and the total sum of squares. Start off by finding the residuals, which is the distance from regression line to each data point. Work out the predicted y value by plugging in the corresponding x value into the regression line equation.

What is the relationship between multiple R and R? ›

r is the correlation coefficient. It is also known as the “Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient”, “PPMCC” or “PCC”, or “Pearson's r”. Multiple R is the “multiple correlation coefficient”. It is a measure of the goodness of fit of the regression model.

What is the relation between R and R in statistics? ›

Coefficient of correlation is “R” value which is given in the summary table in the Regression output. R square is also called coefficient of determination. Multiply R times R to get the R square value. In other words Coefficient of Determination is the square of Coefficeint of Correlation.

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