Skip to contentScholarGate
LibraryBookshelfDeskReview StudioAssistant
Sign in
Ordinary Least Squares/Evidence
Method evidence record

Ordinary Least Squares

Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) is the canonical method for estimating the parameters of a linear regression model by minimizing the sum of squared differences between observed and predicted values. First published by Adrien-Marie Legendre in 1805 and independently developed by Carl Friedrich Gauss (who claimed priority from 1795), OLS is provably optimal under the Gauss-Markov theorem: given its assumptions, it yields the Best Linear Unbiased Estimator (BLUE) of the regression coefficients.

Sources recorded, not reviewed

Source record

Citations copied verbatim from the method’s source record. No claim-level verification is inferred from them.

Ordinary Least Squares Regression
Taxonomic method record · regression-model / statistics
  • Legendre, A.-M. (1805). Nouvelles méthodes pour la détermination des orbites des comètes. Firmin Didot, Paris. [Appendix: Sur la Méthode des moindres quarrés, pp. 72–80.] · URL
  • Gauss, C. F. (1809). Theoria Motus Corporum Coelestium in Sectionibus Conicis Solem Ambientium. Perthes & Besser, Hamburg. · URL
  • Wooldridge, J. M. (2019). Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach (7th ed.). Cengage Learning. · ISBN 978-1337558860
  • Greene, W. H. (2018). Econometric Analysis (8th ed.). Pearson. · ISBN 978-0134461366
Open full method

Curated claims

Claims persisted in the evidence ledger, each with its own assessment.

No curated claims yet

This view does not invent a claim assessment when the ledger has none.

Related methods

Generated from the method graph and shown as machine-suggested relations — no evidence claim is inferred.

Same method familyGeneralized Least Squaresmachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.See alsoInstrumental Variables in Health Researchmachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.See alsoLasso Regressionmachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.Same method familyMultiple Linear Regressionmachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.See alsoRidge Regressionmachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.Same method familyRobust Regressionmachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.Same method familySimple Linear Regressionmachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.Same method familyWeighted Least Squaresmachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.

Evidence status

Sources recorded, not reviewed

Bibliographic sources are present. Claim-level evidence review has not been performed.

Sources

4 recorded citations, copied from the method source record.

Actions

Open method page
ScholarGate

A content-first reference library for research methods — what each one is, how it works, and where it comes from.

Open data (CC-BY)

Explore

  • Library
  • Search the library…
  • Browse by field
  • Fields
  • Journey
  • Compare
  • Which method?

Reference

  • Subjects
  • Atlas
  • Glossary
  • Methodology
  • Philosophy

Your tools

  • Bookshelf
  • Desk
  • Chat

Company

  • About
  • Pricing
  • Contact
  • Suggest a method

Entries are compiled from published sources for reference. Verifying the accuracy and suitability of any information for your own use remains your responsibility.

© 2026 ScholarGate · A research-method reference library
  • Privacy
  • Cookies
  • Terms
  • Delete account