Influential Observations, High Leverage Points, and Outliers in Linear Regression

Abstract

A bewilderingly large number of statistical quantities have been proposed to study outliers and influence of individual observations in regression analysis. In this article we describe the inter-relationships which exist among the proposed measures. An examination of these relationships leads us to conclude that only three of these measures along with some graphical displays can provide an analyst a complete picture of outliers (major discrepant points) and points which excessively influence the fitted regression equation. Illustrative examples based on real data are presented.