As promised last time , I am going to cover the basics of simple regression analysis. It is simple because there is only one independent variable for the dependent variable.As a side note here, most of you are likely familiar with the phrase "correlation does not imply causation". This statement, while true, is misleading. Yes, it is true that not all correlations are causal, it is also true that all causation's are correlated. Causation cannot occur without correlation, so correlation is the first necessary step to show causation, but it is also an insufficient step.For example, if we look at the graph of MLB wins on the y-axis and the ratio of runs scored to runs allowed on the x-axis, it is easily apparent that the ratio and the number of wins are highly correlated. This is a causal relationship as well. The more runs you score and the fewer runs you give up, the more you'll win, because the winner is the team who scores more runs than they give up in any gi…