STSCI 3740: Lecture 1

What is the primary goal of supervised learning?

• To predict or estimate an output based on input data

• To visualize data in a 2D space

• To reduce the number of features

• To find groups of samples that behave similarly

Which method is used to predict categorical or qualitative outcomes?

• Linear regression

• Principal Component Analysis

• Classification

• Clustering

Which of the following is an example of an unsupervised learning problem?

• Predicting wages based on age and education

• Predicting whether the S&P 500 index will increase or decrease

• Grouping customers based on demographic data

• Predicting future stock prices

What is the goal of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) in the context of gene expression data?

• To reduce the number of gene expression for visualization

• To perform linear regression

• To predict future gene expressions

• To classify cancer types

Which of the following statements is true about linear regression?

• It is a non-linear method

• It is used for predicting qualitative values

• It is used for predicting quantitative values

• It was developed in the early 1970s

What is the main difference between regression and classification problems?

• Regression uses PCA, while classification uses clustering

• Regression is a type of unsupervised learning, while classification is supervised

• Regression predicts continuous outputs, while classification predicts categorical outcomes

• Regression is used for gene expression data, while classification is used for stock market data

Which of the following is a key aspect of statistical learning?

• It includes both supervised and unsupervised learning methods

• It is not useful in finance

• It only involves linear methods

• The more complicated is a method the better it performs

What is the purpose of model selection in supervised learning?

• To reduce the number of features

• To group similar samples

• To visualize data in a 2D space

• To find the best model for the outcome or which inputs affect the outcome

Which of the following is an example of a regression problem ?

• Grouping customers based on purchasing behaviour

• Classifying emails as spam or not

• Predicting wages based on age and education

• Predicting whether a stock will up or down

What is the main goal of unsupervised learning ?

• Find groups or clusters within the data

• Select the best model for prediction

• Predict future outcomes

• Estimate the effect of inputs on outcomes