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I have the following equation that is to be estimated:

y = a + bA + cB + dC + eF + dG + e

and i got 2 other additional variables, fH and gI, that i do not wish to add in.. can i reason this out by saying i want to 'avoid fitting the data model'? or else, what should i say?....

the idea is to avoid having too much variables in the regression model, but i cant find a better word to say mathematically for my thesis write up.

thanks.

Jenny
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  • The basic idea is using more parameters in your model than is justified by the number of data points to be fitted. – hardmath Sep 20 '15 at 00:18

1 Answers1

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Since I'm a couple years late, I don't think this will be of much use the OP, but hopefully will serve as a reference for others stumbling upon this post.

You are trying to cite one of the two main goals of regression. The first is accuracy: the model needs to fit the data well. The second is simplicity: the model should be as simple as possible without sacrificing too much accuracy. The goal of model/variable selection is picking those variables that increase the model's accuracy but do not make the model overly complicated.

Bob Krueger
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