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Statistical function
RSQ
Returns the square of the correlation coefficient, the R-squared of a linear fit.
OccasionalDifficulty 1350 · AdvancedUsage rank #213 of 520
When to use it
R squared: the share of the variation in y that a straight line on x explains. The square of CORREL.
The shape of it
- Syntax
=RSQ(known_ys, known_xs)
Worked examples
Strong fit
=RSQ({2,4,6,9},{1,2,3,4}) → 0.988785047
The line explains 98.9% of the variation.
Perfect fit
=RSQ({2,4,6,8},{1,2,3,4}) → 1
A perfect line.
From a correlation
=RSQ(B2:B13,A2:A13) → 0.6889
CORREL of 0.83, squared.
Worth knowing
- A high R² on a small sample means little; look at the count.
- The same value LINEST reports in its third row.
- Trendline R² on a chart is this number.
Where it goes wrong
- #DIV/0! when x or y is constant.
- Says nothing about whether the relationship is linear in the first place.
Related
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