Multiple regression is an important statistical procedure for estimating the relationship between a numeric target and one or more numeric predictors. It is used for prediction--to predict the response variable based on the predictor variable's values -- or for explanation--learning the relationship between the response variable and the predictor variables. Since its results include an equation with coefficients, multiple regression produces a transparent model that lends itself to interpretation and also makes it easy to predict new cases.
Through the use of various types of coding and transformation, multiple regression is actually very general in its applicability. For this reason, multiple regression is popular in areas such as the physical and social sciences, policy studies, and classic business applications. Regression has been so successful and popular...