Advanced Machine Learning with R

Preparing and Understanding Data

"We've got to use every piece of data and piece of information, and hopefully that will help us be accurate with our player evaluation. For us, that's our lifeblood."

– Billy Beane, General Manager Oakland Athletics, subject of the book Moneyball

Research consistently shows that machine learning and data science practitioners spend most of their time manipulating data and preparing it for analysis. Indeed, many find it the most tedious and least enjoyable part of their work. Numerous companies are offering solutions to the problem but, in my opinion, results at this point are varied. Therefore, in this first chapter, I shall endeavor to provide a way of tackling the problem that will ease the burden of getting ...