Book Image

Learning Predictive Analytics with Python

By : Ashish Kumar, Gary Dougan
Book Image

Learning Predictive Analytics with Python

By: Ashish Kumar, Gary Dougan

Overview of this book

Social Media and the Internet of Things have resulted in an avalanche of data. Data is powerful but not in its raw form - It needs to be processed and modeled, and Python is one of the most robust tools out there to do so. It has an array of packages for predictive modeling and a suite of IDEs to choose from. Learning to predict who would win, lose, buy, lie, or die with Python is an indispensable skill set to have in this data age. This book is your guide to getting started with Predictive Analytics using Python. You will see how to process data and make predictive models from it. We balance both statistical and mathematical concepts, and implement them in Python using libraries such as pandas, scikit-learn, and numpy. You’ll start by getting an understanding of the basics of predictive modeling, then you will see how to cleanse your data of impurities and get it ready it for predictive modeling. You will also learn more about the best predictive modeling algorithms such as Linear Regression, Decision Trees, and Logistic Regression. Finally, you will see the best practices in predictive modeling, as well as the different applications of predictive modeling in the modern world.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Learning Predictive Analytics with Python
Credits
Foreword
About the Author
Acknowledgments
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
A List of Links
Index

Chapter 3. Data Wrangling

I assume that by now you are at ease with importing datasets from various sources and exploring the look and feel of the data. Handling missing values, creating dummy variables and plots are some tasks that an analyst (predictive modeller) does with almost all the datasets to make them model-worthy. So, for an aspiring analyst it will be better to master these tasks, as well.

Next in the line of items to master in order to juggle data like a pro is data wrangling. Put simply, it is just a fancy word for the slicing and dicing of data. If you compare the entire predictive modelling process to a complex operation/surgery to be performed on a patient, then the preliminary analysis with a stethoscope and diagnostic checks on the patient is the data cleaning and exploration process, zeroing down on the ailing area and deciding which body part to operate on is data wrangling, and performing the surgery/operation is the modelling process.

Surgery/operation

Predictive...