Finding and Interpreting the Coefficient of Determination

The coefficient of determination is a measure that provides information about the correlation between two different variables. It is easily calculated, especially after determining the linear correlation coefficient R.

If you already have the linear correlation coefficient R, the coefficient of determination is simply the square of that number (R-squared). For instance, if R is approximately 0.93951, then R-squared is about 0.883 when rounded.

The coefficient of determination indicates the variation of the dependent variable that is directly related to the variation of the independent variable. The closer the value is to one, the stronger the correlation. Converting it to a percentage, for example, 0.883 means 88.3% of the variation in Y is explained by the variation in X.

To find the percentage of unexplained variation, subtract the explained percentage from 100%. If 88.3% is explained, then 11.7% is unexplained. This gives a clear visualization of the correlation between the two variables.