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What are some effective ways to handle missing data during feature engineering for machine learning models?
Asked on Dec 29, 2025
Answer
Handling missing data is crucial in feature engineering to ensure the quality and performance of machine learning models. Effective strategies include imputation, removal, or using algorithms that handle missing values natively.
Example Concept: Imputation is a common technique where missing values are filled in with substituted values. This can be done using statistical methods such as mean, median, or mode for numerical data, or using a constant value or the most frequent value for categorical data. Advanced methods include using machine learning models to predict missing values based on other features.
Additional Comment:
- Removing rows or columns with missing data is a simple approach but can lead to loss of valuable information.
- Mean, median, or mode imputation is straightforward but may introduce bias if the data is not missing at random.
- Advanced imputation techniques, like K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) or iterative imputation, can provide more accurate estimates.
- Some algorithms, like decision trees, can handle missing values internally without explicit imputation.
- It's important to analyze the pattern and reason for missing data to choose the most appropriate handling method.
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