Mean squared error

In matrix notation,

${\displaystyle \operatorname {MSE} ={\frac {1}{n}}\sum _{i=1}^{n}(e_{i})^{2}={\frac {1}{n}}\mathbf {e} ^{\mathsf {T}}\mathbf {e} }$

where ${\displaystyle e_{i}}$ is ${\displaystyle (Y_{i}-{\hat {Y_{i}}})}$ and ${\displaystyle \mathbf {e} }$ is a ${\displaystyle n\times 1}$ column vector.

The MSE can also be computed on q data points that were not used in estimating the model, either because they were held back for this purpose, or because these data have been newly obtained. Within this process, known as cross-validation, the MSE is often called the test MSE,^[4] and is computed as

${\displaystyle \operatorname {MSE} ={\frac {1}{q}}\sum _{i=n+1}^{n+q}\left(Y_{i}-{\hat {Y_{i}}}\right)^{2}.}$

Estimator

The MSE of an estimator ${\displaystyle {\hat {\theta }}}$ with respect to an unknown parameter ${\displaystyle \theta }$ is defined as^[1]

${\displaystyle \operatorname {MSE} ({\hat {\theta }})=\operatorname {E} _{\theta }\left[({\hat {\theta }}-\theta )^{2}\right].}$

This definition depends on the unknown parameter, but the MSE is a priori a property of an estimator. The MSE could be a function of unknown parameters, in which case any estimator of the MSE based on estimates of these parameters would be a function of the data (and thus a random variable). If the estimator ${\displaystyle {\hat {\theta }}}$ is derived as a sample statistic and is used to estimate some population parameter, then the expectation is with respect to the sampling distribution of the sample statistic.

The MSE can be written as the sum of the variance of the estimator and the squared bias of the estimator, providing a useful way to calculate the MSE and implying that in the case of unbiased estimators, the MSE and variance are equivalent.^[5]

${\displaystyle \operatorname {MSE} ({\hat {\theta }})=\operatorname {Var} _{\theta }({\hat {\theta }})+\operatorname {Bias} ({\hat {\theta }},\theta )^{2}.}$

Proof of variance and bias relationship

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\operatorname {MSE} ({\hat {\theta }})&=\operatorname {E} _{\theta }\left[({\hat {\theta }}-\theta )^{2}\right]\\&=\operatorname {E} _{\theta }\left[\left({\hat {\theta }}-\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]+\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]-\theta \right)^{2}\right]\\&=\operatorname {E} _{\theta }\left[\left({\hat {\theta }}-\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]\right)^{2}+2\left({\hat {\theta }}-\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]\right)\left(\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]-\theta \right)+\left(\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]-\theta \right)^{2}\right]\\&=\operatorname {E} _{\theta }\left[\left({\hat {\theta }}-\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]\right)^{2}\right]+\operatorname {E} _{\theta }\left[2\left({\hat {\theta }}-\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]\right)\left(\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]-\theta \right)\right]+\operatorname {E} _{\theta }\left[\left(\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]-\theta \right)^{2}\right]\\&=\operatorname {E} _{\theta }\left[\left({\hat {\theta }}-\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]\right)^{2}\right]+2\left(\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]-\theta \right)\operatorname {E} _{\theta }\left[{\hat {\theta }}-\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]\right]+\left(\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]-\theta \right)^{2}&&\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]-\theta ={\text{const.}}\\&=\operatorname {E} _{\theta }\left[\left({\hat {\theta }}-\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]\right)^{2}\right]+2\left(\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]-\theta \right)\left(\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]-\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]\right)+\left(\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]-\theta \right)^{2}&&\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]={\text{const.}}\\&=\operatorname {E} _{\theta }\left[\left({\hat {\theta }}-\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]\right)^{2}\right]+\left(\operatorname {E} _{\theta }[{\hat {\theta }}]-\theta \right)^{2}\\&=\operatorname {Var} _{\theta }({\hat {\theta }})+\operatorname {Bias} _{\theta }({\hat {\theta }},\theta )^{2}\end{aligned}}}$

An even shorter proof can be achieved using the well-known formula that for a random variable ${\textstyle X}$, ${\textstyle \mathbb {E} (X^{2})=\operatorname {Var} (X)+(\mathbb {E} (X))^{2}}$. By substituting ${\textstyle X}$ with, ${\textstyle {\hat {\theta }}-\theta }$, we have

$${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\operatorname {MSE} ({\hat {\theta }})&=\mathbb {E} [({\hat {\theta }}-\theta )^{2}]\\&=\operatorname {Var} ({\hat {\theta }}-\theta )+(\mathbb {E} [{\hat {\theta }}-\theta ])^{2}\\&=\operatorname {Var} ({\hat {\theta }})+\operatorname {Bias} ^{2}({\hat {\theta }},\theta )\end{aligned}}}$$

In regression

In regression analysis, plotting is a more natural way to view the overall trend of the whole data. The mean of the distance from each point to the predicted regression model can be calculated, and shown as the mean squared error. The squaring is critical to reduce the complexity with negative signs. To minimize MSE, the model could be more accurate, which would mean the model is closer to actual data. One example of a linear regression using this method is the least squares method—which evaluates appropriateness of linear regression model to model bivariate dataset,^[6] but whose limitation is related to known distribution of the data.

The term mean squared error is sometimes used to refer to the unbiased estimate of error variance: the

, given the consistency of the predictor.

In regression analysis, "mean squared error", often referred to as

particular sample space

. This also is a known, computed quantity, and it varies by sample and by out-of-sample test space.

In the context of gradient descent algorithms, it is common to introduce a factor of ${\displaystyle 1/2}$ to the MSE for ease of computation after taking the derivative. So a value which is technically half the mean of squared errors may be called the MSE.

Examples

Mean

Suppose we have a random sample of size ${\displaystyle n}$ from a population, ${\displaystyle X_{1},\dots ,X_{n}}$. Suppose the sample units were chosen

with replacement

. That is, the ${\displaystyle n}$ units are selected one at a time, and previously selected units are still eligible for selection for all ${\displaystyle n}$ draws. The usual estimator for the ${\displaystyle \mu }$ is the sample average

${\displaystyle {\overline {X}}={\frac {1}{n}}\sum _{i=1}^{n}X_{i}}$

which has an expected value equal to the true mean ${\displaystyle \mu }$ (so it is unbiased) and a mean squared error of

${\displaystyle \operatorname {MSE} \left({\overline {X}}\right)=\operatorname {E} \left[\left({\overline {X}}-\mu \right)^{2}\right]=\left({\frac {\sigma }{\sqrt {n}}}\right)^{2}={\frac {\sigma ^{2}}{n}}}$

where ${\displaystyle \sigma ^{2}}$ is the

population variance

.

For a

uniform distribution

.

Variance

Further information:

Sample variance

The usual estimator for the variance is the corrected

sample variance

:

${\displaystyle S_{n-1}^{2}={\frac {1}{n-1}}\sum _{i=1}^{n}\left(X_{i}-{\overline {X}}\right)^{2}={\frac {1}{n-1}}\left(\sum _{i=1}^{n}X_{i}^{2}-n{\overline {X}}^{2}\right).}$

This is unbiased (its expected value is ${\displaystyle \sigma ^{2}}$), hence also called the unbiased sample variance, and its MSE is[8]

${\displaystyle \operatorname {MSE} (S_{n-1}^{2})={\frac {1}{n}}\left(\mu _{4}-{\frac {n-3}{n-1}}\sigma ^{4}\right)={\frac {1}{n}}\left(\gamma _{2}+{\frac {2n}{n-1}}\right)\sigma ^{4},}$

where ${\displaystyle \mu _{4}}$ is the fourth central moment of the distribution or population, and ${\displaystyle \gamma _{2}=\mu _{4}/\sigma ^{4}-3}$ is the

However, one can use other estimators for ${\displaystyle \sigma ^{2}}$ which are proportional to ${\displaystyle S_{n-1}^{2}}$, and an appropriate choice can always give a lower mean squared error. If we define

${\displaystyle S_{a}^{2}={\frac {n-1}{a}}S_{n-1}^{2}={\frac {1}{a}}\sum _{i=1}^{n}\left(X_{i}-{\overline {X}}\,\right)^{2}}$

then we calculate:

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\operatorname {MSE} (S_{a}^{2})&=\operatorname {E} \left[\left({\frac {n-1}{a}}S_{n-1}^{2}-\sigma ^{2}\right)^{2}\right]\\&=\operatorname {E} \left[{\frac {(n-1)^{2}}{a^{2}}}S_{n-1}^{4}-2\left({\frac {n-1}{a}}S_{n-1}^{2}\right)\sigma ^{2}+\sigma ^{4}\right]\\&={\frac {(n-1)^{2}}{a^{2}}}\operatorname {E} \left[S_{n-1}^{4}\right]-2\left({\frac {n-1}{a}}\right)\operatorname {E} \left[S_{n-1}^{2}\right]\sigma ^{2}+\sigma ^{4}\\&={\frac {(n-1)^{2}}{a^{2}}}\operatorname {E} \left[S_{n-1}^{4}\right]-2\left({\frac {n-1}{a}}\right)\sigma ^{4}+\sigma ^{4}&&\operatorname {E} \left[S_{n-1}^{2}\right]=\sigma ^{2}\\&={\frac {(n-1)^{2}}{a^{2}}}\left({\frac {\gamma _{2}}{n}}+{\frac {n+1}{n-1}}\right)\sigma ^{4}-2\left({\frac {n-1}{a}}\right)\sigma ^{4}+\sigma ^{4}&&\operatorname {E} \left[S_{n-1}^{4}\right]=\operatorname {MSE} (S_{n-1}^{2})+\sigma ^{4}\\&={\frac {n-1}{na^{2}}}\left((n-1)\gamma _{2}+n^{2}+n\right)\sigma ^{4}-2\left({\frac {n-1}{a}}\right)\sigma ^{4}+\sigma ^{4}\end{aligned}}}$

This is minimized when

${\displaystyle a={\frac {(n-1)\gamma _{2}+n^{2}+n}{n}}=n+1+{\frac {n-1}{n}}\gamma _{2}.}$

For a

${\displaystyle \gamma _{2}=0}$

${\displaystyle a=n+1}$

${\displaystyle \gamma _{2}=-2}$

${\displaystyle a=n-1+{\tfrac {2}{n}}.}$

Further, while the corrected sample variance is the

${\displaystyle S_{n-1}^{2}.}$

Gaussian distribution

The following table gives several estimators of the true parameters of the population, μ and σ², for the Gaussian case.^[9]

True value	Estimator	Mean squared error
${\displaystyle \theta =\mu }$	${\displaystyle {\hat {\theta }}}$ = the unbiased estimator of the population mean , ${\displaystyle {\overline {X}}={\frac {1}{n}}\sum _{i=1}^{n}(X_{i})}$	${\displaystyle \operatorname {MSE} ({\overline {X}})=\operatorname {E} (({\overline {X}}-\mu )^{2})=\left({\frac {\sigma }{\sqrt {n}}}\right)^{2}}$
${\displaystyle \theta =\sigma ^{2}}$	${\displaystyle {\hat {\theta }}}$ = the unbiased estimator of the population variance , ${\displaystyle S_{n-1}^{2}={\frac {1}{n-1}}\sum _{i=1}^{n}\left(X_{i}-{\overline {X}}\,\right)^{2}}$	${\displaystyle \operatorname {MSE} (S_{n-1}^{2})=\operatorname {E} ((S_{n-1}^{2}-\sigma ^{2})^{2})={\frac {2}{n-1}}\sigma ^{4}}$
${\displaystyle \theta =\sigma ^{2}}$	${\displaystyle {\hat {\theta }}}$ = the biased estimator of the population variance , ${\displaystyle S_{n}^{2}={\frac {1}{n}}\sum _{i=1}^{n}\left(X_{i}-{\overline {X}}\,\right)^{2}}$	${\displaystyle \operatorname {MSE} (S_{n}^{2})=\operatorname {E} ((S_{n}^{2}-\sigma ^{2})^{2})={\frac {2n-1}{n^{2}}}\sigma ^{4}}$
${\displaystyle \theta =\sigma ^{2}}$	${\displaystyle {\hat {\theta }}}$ = the biased estimator of the population variance , ${\displaystyle S_{n+1}^{2}={\frac {1}{n+1}}\sum _{i=1}^{n}\left(X_{i}-{\overline {X}}\,\right)^{2}}$	${\displaystyle \operatorname {MSE} (S_{n+1}^{2})=\operatorname {E} ((S_{n+1}^{2}-\sigma ^{2})^{2})={\frac {2}{n+1}}\sigma ^{4}}$

Interpretation

An MSE of zero, meaning that the estimator ${\displaystyle {\hat {\theta }}}$ predicts observations of the parameter ${\displaystyle \theta }$ with perfect accuracy, is ideal (but typically not possible).

Values of MSE may be used for comparative purposes. Two or more statistical models may be compared using their MSEs—as a measure of how well they explain a given set of observations: An unbiased estimator (estimated from a statistical model) with the smallest variance among all unbiased estimators is the best unbiased estimator or MVUE (Minimum-Variance Unbiased Estimator).

Both

In one-way analysis of variance, MSE can be calculated by the division of the sum of squared errors and the degree of freedom. Also, the f-value is the ratio of the mean squared treatment and the MSE.

MSE is also used in several stepwise regression techniques as part of the determination as to how many predictors from a candidate set to include in a model for a given set of observations.

Applications

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• Minimizing MSE is a key criterion in selecting estimators: see
  estimator bias
  .
• In
  statistical modelling
  the MSE can represent the difference between the actual observations and the observation values predicted by the model. In this context, it is used to determine the extent to which the model fits the data as well as whether removing some explanatory variables is possible without significantly harming the model's predictive ability.
• In forecasting and prediction, the Brier score is a measure of forecast skill based on MSE.

Loss function

Squared error loss is one of the most widely used loss functions in statistics, though its widespread use stems more from mathematical convenience than considerations of actual loss in applications. Carl Friedrich Gauss, who introduced the use of mean squared error, was aware of its arbitrariness and was in agreement with objections to it on these grounds.^[3] The mathematical benefits of mean squared error are particularly evident in its use at analyzing the performance of linear regression, as it allows one to partition the variation in a dataset into variation explained by the model and variation explained by randomness.

Criticism

The use of mean squared error without question has been criticized by the

• Bias–variance tradeoff
• Hodges' estimator
• James–Stein estimator
• Mean percentage error
• Mean square quantization error
• Mean square weighted deviation
• Mean squared displacement
• Mean squared prediction error
• Minimum mean square error
• Minimum mean squared error estimator
• Overfitting
• Peak signal-to-noise ratio

Notes