Decision Tree Classification

A decision tree is a flowchart-like tree structure. The topmost node in a tree is the root node. The each internal node (non-leaf node) denotes a test on an attribute and each branch represents an outcome of the test. The each leaf node (or terminal node) holds a class label.

Decision trees can handle multidimensional data.

Some of the decision tree algorithms are Iterative Dichotomiser (ID3), C4.5 (a successor of ID3), Classification and Regression Trees (CART). Most algorithms for decision tree induction follow a top-down approach.

The tree starts with a training set of tuples and their associated class labels.

The algorithm is called with data partition, attribute list, and attribute selection method, where the data partition is the complete set of training tuples and their associated class labels.

The splitting criterion is determined by attribute selection method which indicates the splitting attribute that may be splitting point or splitting subset.

Attribute selection measures are also known as splitting rules as they determine how the data at a given node are to be split.

The attribute selection measure provides a ranking for each attribute. The attribute having the best score for the measure is chosen as the splitting attribute for the given tuples.

The popular attribute selection measures are information gain, gain ratio and Gini index.

Gaussian Elimination - Row reduction Algorithm

Gaussian elimination is a method for solving matrix equations of the form, Ax=b. This method is also known as the row reduction algorithm. Back Substitution Solving the last equation for the variable and then work backward into the first equation to solve it. The fundamental idea is to add multiples of one equation to the others in order to eliminate a variable and to continue this process until only one variable is left. Pivot row The row that is used to perform elimination of a variable from other rows is called the pivot row. Example: Solving a linear equation The augmented matrix for the above equation shall be The equation shall be solved using back substitution. The eliminating the first variable (x1) in the first row (Pivot row) by carrying out the row operation. As the second row become zero, the row will be shifted to bottom by carrying out partial pivoting. Now, the second variable (x2) shall be eliminated by carrying out the row operation again. ...

Decision Tree - Gini Index

The Gini index is used in CART. The Gini index measures the impurity of the data set, where p i - probability that data in the data set, D belong to class, C i and pi = |C i,D |/|D| There are 2 v - 2 possible ways to form two partitions of the data set, D based on a binary split on a attribute. Each of the possible binary splits of the attribute is considered. The subset that gives the minimum Gini index is selected as the splitting subset for discrete valued attribute. The degree of Gini index varies between 0 and 1. The value 0 denotes that all elements belong to a certain class or if there exists only one class, and the value 1 denotes that the elements are randomly distributed across various classes. A Gini Index of 0.5 denotes equally distributed elements into some classes. The Gini index is biased toward multivalued attributes and has difficulty when the number of classes is large.

Data Cleaning Process

Data cleaning attempt to fill in missing values, smooth out noise while identifying outliers, and correct inconsistencies in the data. Data cleaning is performed as an iterative two-step process consisting of discrepancy detection and data transformation. The missing values of the attribute can be addressed by Ignoring the value filling the value manually Using global constant to fill the value Using a measure of central tendency (mean or median) of value Using attribute mean or median belonging to same class Using the most probable value Noise is a random error or variance in a measured variable. The noisy data can be smoothened using following techniques. Binning methods smooth a sorted data value by consulting the nearby values around it. smoothing by bin means - each value in a bin is replaced by the mean value of the bin. smoothing by bin medians - each bin value is replaced by the bin median smoothing by bin boundaries - the minimum and maximum values in a ...

The Data Ilm

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