Are there any Linear Regression Function in SQL Server

Question

Are there any Linear Regression Functions in SQL Server 2005/2008, similar to the Linear Regression functions in Oracle?

Answer 1

I know of none, to the best of my knowledge. However, writing one is rather simple. The slope beta and constant alpha for y = Alpha + Beta * x + epsilon are as follows:

-- test data (GroupIDs 1, 2 normal regressions, 3, 4 = no variance)
WITH some_table(GroupID, x, y) AS
(       SELECT 1,  1,  1    UNION SELECT 1,  2,  2    UNION SELECT 1,  3,  1.3  
  UNION SELECT 1,  4,  3.75 UNION SELECT 1,  5,  2.25 UNION SELECT 2, 95, 85    
  UNION SELECT 2, 85, 95    UNION SELECT 2, 80, 70    UNION SELECT 2, 70, 65    
  UNION SELECT 2, 60, 70    UNION SELECT 3,  1,  2    UNION SELECT 3,  1, 3
  UNION SELECT 4,  1,  2    UNION SELECT 4,  2,  2),
 -- linear regression query
/*WITH*/ mean_estimates AS
(   SELECT GroupID
          ,AVG(x * 1.)                                             AS xmean
          ,AVG(y * 1.)                                             AS ymean
    FROM some_table
    GROUP BY GroupID
),
stdev_estimates AS
(   SELECT pd.GroupID
          -- T-SQL STDEV() implementation is not numerically stable
          ,CASE      SUM(SQUARE(x - xmean)) WHEN 0 THEN 1 
           ELSE SQRT(SUM(SQUARE(x - xmean)) / (COUNT(*) - 1)) END AS xstdev
          ,     SQRT(SUM(SQUARE(y - ymean)) / (COUNT(*) - 1))     AS ystdev
    FROM some_table pd
    INNER JOIN mean_estimates  pm ON pm.GroupID = pd.GroupID
    GROUP BY pd.GroupID, pm.xmean, pm.ymean
),
standardized_data AS                   -- increases numerical stability
(   SELECT pd.GroupID
          ,(x - xmean) / xstdev                                    AS xstd
          ,CASE ystdev WHEN 0 THEN 0 ELSE (y - ymean) / ystdev END AS ystd
    FROM some_table pd
    INNER JOIN stdev_estimates ps ON ps.GroupID = pd.GroupID
    INNER JOIN mean_estimates  pm ON pm.GroupID = pd.GroupID
),
standardized_beta_estimates AS
(   SELECT GroupID
          ,CASE WHEN SUM(xstd * xstd) = 0 THEN 0
                ELSE SUM(xstd * ystd) / (COUNT(*) - 1) END         AS betastd
    FROM standardized_data pd
    GROUP BY GroupID
)
SELECT pb.GroupID
      ,ymean - xmean * betastd * ystdev / xstdev                   AS Alpha
      ,betastd * ystdev / xstdev                                   AS Beta
FROM standardized_beta_estimates pb
INNER JOIN stdev_estimates ps ON ps.GroupID = pb.GroupID
INNER JOIN mean_estimates  pm ON pm.GroupID = pb.GroupID