DSE Feature Engineering and Selection 2

Question 1

Which technique creates new features by combining two or more existing features through multiplication or division?

Accepted Answer

Interaction terms

Answer

Interaction terms capture non-linear relationships by multiplying or dividing existing features to create new ones.

Question 2

What is the primary purpose of applying a log transformation to a skewed feature?

Accepted Answer

To reduce the impact of outliers and make the distribution more symmetric

Answer

Log transformation compresses the range of large values, reducing skewness and the influence of extreme outliers.

Question 3

In the context of feature selection, what does the term 'multicollinearity' refer to?

Accepted Answer

High correlation between two or more predictor features

Answer

Multicollinearity occurs when predictor features are highly correlated with each other, making it difficult to isolate individual effects.

Question 4

Which encoding method is most appropriate for an ordinal categorical variable like 'education level' (High School < Bachelor's < Master's < PhD)?

Accepted Answer

Ordinal encoding

Answer

Ordinal encoding assigns integer values that preserve the natural order of the categories.

Question 5

What is 'target leakage' in feature engineering?

Accepted Answer

Including features that contain information not available at prediction time

Answer

Target leakage occurs when features used during training contain information that would not be available when the model makes real predictions.

DSE - Data Science Practice Test