False negatives are where a test result indicates that a condition failed, while it was successful. I.e. erroneously no effect has been assumed. A common example is a guilty prisoner freed from jail. The condition: “Is the prisoner guilty?” is true (yes, the prisoner is guilty). But the test (a court of law) failed to realize this, and wrongly decided … Read more
False positives commonly called a “false alarm”, is a result that indicates a given condition has been fulfilled when it has not. I.e. erroneously a positive effect has been assumed. In the case of “crying wolf” – the condition tested for was “is there a wolf near the herd?”; the result was that there had not been a wolf near … Read more
Extrapolation in mathematics is the process of estimating, beyond the original observation range, the value of a variable on the basis of its relationship with another variable. It is similar to interpolation, which produces estimates between known observations, but extrapolation is subject to greater uncertainty and a higher risk of producing meaningless results. Extrapolation may also mean an extension of … Read more
Explanatory Data Analysis (EDA) in statistics is an approach to analyzing data sets to summarize their main characteristics, often with visual methods. A statistical model can be used or not, but primarily EDA is for seeing what the data can tell us beyond the formal modeling or hypothesis testing task. Exploratory data analysis was promoted to encourage statisticians to explore … Read more
Euclidean distance in mathematics is the “ordinary” (i.e. straight-line) distance between two points in Euclidean space. With this distance, Euclidean space becomes a metric space. The associated norm is called the Euclidean norm. Older literature refers to the metric as a Pythagorean metric. A generalized term for the Euclidean norm is the L2 norm or L2 distance. The Euclidean distance … Read more
Estimation is the process of finding an estimate, or approximation, which is a value that is usable for some purpose even if input data may be incomplete, uncertain, or unstable. The value is nonetheless usable because it is derived from the best information available. Typically, estimation involves “using the value of a statistic derived from a sample to estimate the … Read more
Eigenvectors are a special set of vectors associated with a linear system of equations that are sometimes also known as characteristic roots, proper values, or latent roots. The determination of the eigenvectors and eigenvalues of a system is extremely important in physics and engineering, where it is equivalent to matrix diagonalization and arises in such common applications as stability analysis, … Read more
Deep Learning (also known as deep structured learning, hierarchical learning or deep machine learning) is a class of machine learning algorithms that: use a cascade of many layers of nonlinear processing units for feature extraction and transformation. Each successive layer uses the output from the previous layer as input. The algorithms may be supervised or unsupervised and applications include pattern … Read more
Deep Belief Nets are probabilistic generative models that are composed of multiple layers of stochastic, latent variables. The latent variables typically have binary values and are often called hidden units or feature detectors. The top two layers have undirected, symmetric connections between them and form an associative memory. The lower layers receive top-down, directed connections from the layer above. The … Read more
Decision tree is a decision support tool that uses a tree-like graph or model of decisions and their possible consequences, including chance event outcomes, resource costs, and utility. It is one way to display an algorithm. Decision trees are commonly used in operations research, specifically in decision analysis, to help identify a strategy most likely to reach a goal, but … Read more