Mastering Machine Learning with R - Second Edition

Classification methods and linear regression

So, why can't we just use the least square regression method that we learned in the previous chapter for a qualitative outcome? Well, as it turns out, you can, but at your own risk. Let's assume for a second that you have an outcome that you are trying to predict and it has three different classes: mild, moderate, and severe. You and your colleagues also assume that the difference between mild and moderate and moderate and severe is an equivalent measure and a linear relationship. You can create a dummy variable where 0 is equal to mild, 1 is equal to moderate, and 2 is equal to severe. If you have reason to believe this, then linear regression might be an acceptable solution. However, qualitative ...