Showing posts with label Algorithm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Algorithm. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Data Mining Algorithms

Choosing the Right Algorithm


Choosing the best algorithm to use for a specific analytical task can be a challenge. While you can use different algorithms to perform the same business task, each algorithm produces a different result, and some algorithms can produce more than one type of result. For example, you can use the Microsoft Decision Trees algorithm not only for prediction, but also as a way to reduce the number of columns in a dataset, because the decision tree can identify columns that do not affect the final mining model.

Choosing an Algorithm by Type

Analysis Services includes the following algorithm types:
  • Classification algorithms predict one or more discrete variables, based on the other attributes in the dataset.
  • Regression algorithms predict one or more continuous variables, such as profit or loss, based on other attributes in the dataset.
  • Segmentation algorithms divide data into groups, or clusters, of items that have similar properties.
  • Association algorithms find correlations between different attributes in a dataset. The most common application of this kind of algorithm is for creating association rules, which can be used in a market basket analysis.
  • Sequence analysis algorithms summarize frequent sequences or episodes in data, such as a Web path flow.