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

Correlation


Another statistical idea which is very basic and important while finding a relation between two variables is called correlation. In a way, one can say that the concept of correlation is the premise of predictive modelling, in the sense that the correlation is the factor relying on which we say that we can predict outcomes.

A good correlation between two variables suggests that there is a sort of dependence between them. If one is changed, the change will be reflected in the other as well. One can say that a good correlation certifies a mathematical relation between two variables and due to this mathematical relationship, we might be able to predict outcomes. This mathematical relation can be anything. If x and y are two variables, which are correlated, then one can write:

If f is a linear function, then a and b are linearly correlated. If f is an exponential function, then a and b are exponentially correlated:

The degree of correlation between the two variables x and y is quantified...