Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data and is described as the branch of economics that aims to give empirical content to economic relations. More precisely, it is "the quantitative analysis of actual economic phenomena based on the concurrent development of theory and observation, related by appropriate methods of inference". An introductory economics textbook describes econometrics as allowing economists "to sift through mountains of data to extract simple relationships". The first known use of the term "econometrics" (in cognate form) was by Polish economist Paweł Ciompa in 1910. Jan Tinbergen is considered by many to be one of the founding fathers of econometrics. Ragnar Frisch is credited with coining the term in the sense in which it is used today. 

The basic tool for econometrics is the multiple linear regression model. Econometric theory uses statistical theory and mathematical statistics to evaluate and develop econometric methods. Econometricians try to find estimators that have desirable statistical properties including unbiasedness, efficiency, and consistency. "Applied econometrics" uses theoretical econometrics and real-world data for assessing economic theories, developing econometric models, analyzing economic history, and forecasting. 

The basic tool for econometrics is the multiple linear regression model. In modern econometrics, other statistical tools are frequently used, but linear regression is still the most frequently used starting point for an analysis. Estimating a linear regression on two variables can be visualized as fitting a line through data points representing paired values of the independent and dependent variables.

Answer the following questions:
1. what method is being discussed?
2. what is it?
3. what does it try to do?
4. what else is it considered to be?
5. based on what?
6. what does it allow economists to do?
7. when was the word first used?
8. by who?
9. who is he?
10. who made up the term that we now use?
11. who else played an important role in coming up with it?
12. to what extent?
13. what is the most important tool for econometrics?
14. what does this theory use?
15. to accomplish what?
16. which is the most used tool?
17. how is this done?
18. how is it visualized?
19. of what?
20. what is the main goal of an econometrician?

Numbered answers:
1. Econometrics
2. the application of statistical methods to economic data
3. give empirical content to economic relations
4. the quantitative analysis of actual economic phenomena
5. the concurrent development of theory and observation, related by appropriate methods of inference
6. sift through mountains of data to extract simple relationships
7. 1910
8. Paweł Ciompa
9. a Polish economist
10. Ragnar Frisch
11. Jan Tinbergen
12. considered by many to be one of the founding fathers
13. the multiple linear regression model
14. statistical theory and mathematical statistics
15. to evaluate and develop econometric methods
16. linear regression
17. unknown
18. as fitting a line through data points representing paired values
19. the independent and dependent variables
20. to find estimators that have desirable statistical properties