Evaluation Metrics
In the context of machine learning, evaluation metrics are essential for measuring the performance and effectiveness of models. This section distinguishes between metrics used for classification tasks and those for regression tasks.
Classification Metrics
- Accuracy: This metric indicates the proportion of true results (both true positives and true negatives) in the total dataset. It provides a general insight into how well the model performs but can be misleading when dealing with imbalanced datasets.
- Precision: Precision is the ratio of correctly predicted positive observations to the total predicted positives. It is particularly important in cases where false positives are costly.
- Recall (Sensitivity): Recall measures the ratio of correctly predicted positive observations to all actual positives, answering the question of how many actual positives our model identified.
- F1 Score: The F1 Score is the harmonic mean of precision and recall, providing a balance between the two metrics. It's useful for scenarios where you need to consider both false positives and false negatives.
- Confusion Matrix: This is a table used to evaluate the performance of a classification algorithm. It illustrates the true positives, true negatives, false positives, and false negatives, providing insights into classification errors.
Regression Metrics
- Mean Squared Error (MSE): This metric reflects the average squared difference between actual and predicted values. It is sensitive to outliers due to squaring the errors.
- Mean Absolute Error (MAE): Unlike MSE, MAE calculates the average absolute difference between predicted and actual values, giving an idea of the average error magnitude without amplifying the effect of outliers.
- R² Score (Coefficient of Determination): This metric indicates how well the independent variables explain the variance in the dependent variable, offering insights into the model's fit.
Understanding these evaluation metrics is vital for interpreting model performance and making decisions based on predictions in various data-driven applications.