Chapter 4. Introduction to Regression Algorithms

"It ain't ignorance causes so much trouble; it's folks knowing so much that ain't so."

-Billings

Every day, the number of predictive analytics techniques seems to be increasing. There is a constant debate about whether we need better algorithms, or whether more or better data is needed in order to attack a predictive analytics problem.

Whatever the case, it is always good to keep abreast of all of the available algorithms at your disposal. It is equally important to hone your skills on the top three or four algorithms that can tackle 90% of the problems that you will face, and be able to understand the situations in which it makes sense to use them.

This chapter is the first of two chapters which will present four basic algorithms which cover a lot of typical business situations that you will encounter. In fact, many of the data science surveys which poll analytics practitioners will often include these techniques in the top techniques that all...