R², the Coefficient of Determination

R², the coefficient of determination:

A) is a statistical technique used to "fit" an equation to empirical data in order to estimate the relationship between a dependent variable and more than one independent variable.
B) indicates how the variation in the independent variables) caused the variation in the dependent variable.
C) measures the proportion of the total variation in the dependent variable that is "caused" by the variation of the independent variables) .
D) measures the proportion of the total variation in the independent variables) that is "explained" by the variation of the dependent variable.
E) measures the proportion of the total variation in the dependent variable that is "explained" by the variation of the independent variables) .