Mastering Predictive Analytics with R

The process of predictive modeling

By looking at some of the different characterizations of models, we've already hinted at various steps of the predictive modeling process. In this section, we will present these steps in a sequence and make sure we understand how each of these contributes to the overall success of the endeavor.

Defining the model's objective

In a nutshell, the first step of every project is to figure out precisely what the desired outcome is, as this will help steer us to make good decisions throughout the course of the project. In a predictive analytics project, this question involves drilling into the type of prediction that we want to make and understanding the task in detail. For example, suppose we are trying to build a model ...