Explained sum of squares

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In statistics, the explained sum of squares (ESS), alternatively known as the model sum of squares or sum of squares due to regression (SSR – not to be confused with the residual sum of squares (RSS) or sum of squares of errors), is a quantity used in describing how well a model, often a regression model, represents the data being modelled. In particular, the explained sum of squares measures how much variation there is in the modelled values and this is compared to the total sum of squares (TSS), which measures how much variation there is in the observed data, and to the residual sum of squares, which measures the variation in the error between the observed data and modelled values.