Back to Assess fit by analyzing residuals — Problem 3 · Task Set 7

Exercises: Assess Fit by Analyzing Residuals

Work through each section in order. A residual is observed minus predicted: positive when the data point is ABOVE the model, negative when below. Keep the sign. When reading a residual plot, remember the key idea: random scatter around zero means a GOOD fit, while a clear pattern (a curve or a fan) means the model is wrong.

Grade 10·20 problems·~35 min·Common Core Math - HS Statistics and Probability·standard·hss-id-b-6b

Work through problems with immediate feedback

Warm-Up: What Is a Residual?

These problems review the residual definition and its sign.

A student builds a residual plot and expects it to look just like the original scatter plot of the data. Why is that expectation wrong?

The residual plot shows only the misses (residual vs $x$ ), centered on zero with the trend removed, so it is a different picture from the data cloud.

The residual plot is identical to the scatter plot, just rotated.

The residual plot always shows a straight increasing line.

A residual plot and a scatter plot are the same graph with different labels.