Reduces high granularity and dimensionality in hierarchical categorical variables.
problem Overfitting and estimation issues in predictive models due to high granularity and dimensionality.
method Entity embedding and top-down clustering algorithm to reduce granularity and dimensionality.
result The reduced hierarchy improves model fit and complexity balance.
The article compares predictor importance in classification problems with categorical outcomes.
problem Comparing predictor importance in classification problems with categorical response variables.
method The approach is based on the categorical Gini correlation (CGC) and tests differences in CGCs across predictor groups.
result The proposed methodology accommodates predictors of arbitrary and unequal dimensions and allows for dependence between predictor groups.
Scalable GP model tackles big data, categorical factors, and multiple responses.
problem Handling big datasets, categorical inputs, and multiple responses in Gaussian processes.
method Latent variable Gaussian process (LVGP) with variational inference for scalability and interpretability.
result The method scales well for large datasets and outperforms state-of-the-art methods.
Two novel methods estimate multiple FDR directions for binary categorical responses.
problem Estimating multiple FDR directions for categorical responses.
method Information maximization and square loss mutual information.
result Statistical consistency of the proposed methods established.
New optimization algorithm for mixed-variable problems improves efficiency.
problem Optimizing functions with both continuous and categorical variables.
method Combines radial basis function and metric stochastic response surface methods with modifications for categorical variables and parallel processing.
result Numerical experiments show the effectiveness of the proposed modifications.
A framework for measuring differences in categorical data.
problem Measuring differences between categorical variables.
method Introduces a general framework for efficient and flexible implementation of distances for categorical variables.
result Framework allows for incorporation of existing distances and introduces new formulations.
BART is extended to handle various response variables.
problem Modeling nonlinear regression functions for diverse response types.
method Generalized Bayesian Additive Regression Trees (GBART) for exponential family distributions.
result The posterior concentrates at a minimax rate for certain response distributions.
A new model estimates mixed memberships for categorical data with weighted responses.
problem Limited applicability of existing GoM model to weighted categorical data.
method Proposes Weighted Grade of Membership (WGoM) model, relaxing distribution constraints.
result WGoM can describe any response matrix with finite distinct elements.
MSRL learns a representation maximizing mutual info with response variables.
problem Learning sufficient representations for complex, multi-dimensional data.
method Variational mutual information, deep neural networks, generalized Dudley's inequality.
result MSRL achieves consistent and accurate representation learning.
ESRLCM clusters similar responses, more broadly than traditional models.
problem Clustering multivariate categorical data with common response patterns.
method Bayesian Equivalence Set Restricted Latent Class Model (ESRLCM).
result ESRLCM identifies clusters with similar item response probabilities.
Item response theory (IRT) models for categorical response data are widely used in the analysis of educational data, computerized adaptive testing, and psychological surveys. However, most IRT models rely on both the assumption that categories are strictly ordered and the assumption that this ordering is known a priori…
StructureBoost improves gradient boosting for complex categorical variables efficiently.
problem Efficiently handling complex categorical variables with known structure.
method Two methods to overcome computational obstacles in SCDT enumeration for structured categorical variables.
result StructureBoost outperforms existing packages on complex categorical problems.
A new method for Gaussian Processes handles mixed continuous and categorical inputs.
problem Modeling cross-correlations between continuous and categorical data.
method Low-Rank Correlation (LRC) method for Gaussian Processes with flexible rank approximation.
result LRC outperforms existing methods in estimating cross-correlations and predicting response surfaces.
Develops a new method for decision trees using categorical variable structure.
problem Lack of structure in treating categorical variables as predictors.
method Introduces a mathematical framework to represent categorical structure and generalizes decision trees to utilize this structure.
result Improves prediction accuracy on weather data using the new method.
Novel GLMMNet model tackles high-cardinality categorical features in actuarial applications.
problem Inadequate encoding methods for high-cardinality categorical features in actuarial data.
method Generalised Linear Mixed Model Neural Network (GLMMNet) integrating a generalised linear mixed model in a deep learning framework.
result GLMMNet often outperforms or performs comparably with entity embedded neural networks, providing transparency.
New model for multi-layer categorical data improves latent class analysis.
problem Traditional latent class analysis for single-layer categorical data is insufficient for multi-layer data.
method Developed a multi-layer latent class model (multi-layer LCM) and three spectral methods for estimation.
result The debiased sum of Gram matrices method performs best in estimating latent classes.
Unified Bayesian Optimisation for mixed variables improves performance.
problem Efficient optimisation of problems with both categorical and continuous variables.
method Derive value proposals from the Expected Improvement criterion to optimise both categorical and continuous variables under a single acquisition metric.
result Unified approach significantly outperforms existing methods across mixed-variable tasks.
Proposes a two-stage method for selecting correlated predictors in high-dimensional data.
problem Selecting correlated predictors in high-dimensional data with unknown group structures.
method Two-stage approach: variable clustering followed by group selection.
result The two-stage method improves prediction accuracy and active predictor selection.
Posterior conformal prediction improves prediction interval validity for subgroups.
problem Marginal and conditional prediction interval validity for subgroups.
method Modeling conditional nonconformity score distribution as a mixture of cluster distributions.
result PCP produces tighter prediction intervals, especially for well-represented clusters.
Estimates causal effect using proxies in multi-domain settings.
problem Estimating causal effect in settings with unobserved confounders across domains.
method Proposes estimation techniques using proxy variables for discrete or categorical data.
result Proves identifiability and consistency of causal effect estimation.
Categorical variables are a natural choice for representing discrete structure in the world. However, stochastic neural networks rarely use categorical latent variables due to the inability to backpropagate through samples. In this work, we present an efficient gradient estimator that replaces the non-differentiable sa…
This study compares machine learning methods for high-cardinality categorical variables.
problem Machine learning struggles with high-cardinality categorical variables.
method Empirical comparison of tree-boosting, deep neural networks, and linear mixed effects models.
result Tree-boosting with random effects outperforms deep neural networks with random effects.
Paper proposes CIV estimator for categorical instruments in small sample settings.
problem Estimation with categorical instruments in settings with few observations per category.
method CIV estimator leveraging regularization assumption for latent categorical variable.
result CIV estimator is asymptotically normal, efficient, and semiparametrically efficient under homoskedasticity.
Probabilistic learning for binary classification with categorical variables.
problem Binary classification with categorical covariates.
method Probabilistic analysis and two algorithms for learning boolean functions.
result Effective learning of boolean functions from binary data.
CARMS improves gradient estimation for categorical variables.
problem Accurately backpropagating gradients through categorical variables.
method CARMS combines REINFORCE with antithetic sampling to create unbiased gradient estimators.
result CARMS outperforms competing methods on various tasks.
The paper compares one-hot encoding to Naïve Bayes for categorical variables.
problem Incorrect one-hot encoding affects Naïve Bayes performance.
method Mathematical and experimental analysis of PoB vs. categorical Naïve Bayes.
result Posterior probabilities are usually greater in the PoB case, but agree on the maximum a posteriori class label.
ERAPS builds prediction sets for time-series data.
problem Uncertainty quantification in complex machine learning methods for time-series data.
method ERAPS is an ensemble-based framework for constructing prediction sets for time-series data, allowing unknown dependencies within features and responses.
result ERAPS demonstrates valid marginal and conditional coverage and yields smaller prediction sets than competing methods.
A new method for optimizing models with categorical variables using diffusion.
problem Optimizing models with categorical variables, especially in discrete distributions.
method Introducing ReDGE, a diffusion-based soft reparameterization method for categorical distributions.
result ReDGE consistently matches or outperforms existing gradient-based methods in experiments.
CARD models predict the distribution of continuous or categorical responses.
problem Uncertainty in predicting continuous or categorical responses.
method Combines denoising diffusion and conditional mean estimation.
result Outperforms state-of-the-art methods in conditional distribution prediction.
IRTCI uses IRT for categorical imputation, outperforming other methods in various datasets.
problem Missing data in datasets limits model testing and statistical inference.
method Item Response Theory for Categorical Imputation (IRTCI) based on IRT.
result IRTCI outperformed kNN, MICE, and Datawig in various datasets.
A new model for latent class analysis with weighted responses.
problem Limitation of latent class model for real-world data with continuous or negative responses.
method Proposed a novel generative model, the weighted latent class model (WLCM).
result The proposed WLCM is more realistic and general than the latent class model.
Natural Language Processing models help encode categorical process inputs.
problem Encoding categorical variables in industrial process modeling.
method Using NLP models for categorical variable encoding, combined with dimensionality reduction.
result Meaningful embeddings of categorical variables improve feature importance.
Many learning algorithms require categorical data to be transformed into real vectors before it can be used as input. Often, categorical variables are encoded as one-hot (or dummy) vectors. However, this mode of representation can be wasteful since it adds many low-signal regressors, especially when the number of uniqu…
Enhances Gaussian process models for handling variable error variances and multiple responses.
problem Limited ability of Gaussian process models to capture abrupt changes and heteroscedastic errors.
method Introduces a novel heteroscedastic Gaussian process (HeGP) framework coupled with variational inference and EM algorithm.
result Effective modeling of multivariate responses with varying error variances.
New gradient estimators for discrete variables improve model training.
problem Training models with discrete latent variables is challenging due to high gradient variance.
method Introduced novel gradient estimators based on importance sampling and statistical couplings, extending to categorical variables.
result Proposed gradient estimators outperform previous methods in systematic experiments.
We study the problem of recovering the latent ground truth labeling of a structured instance with categorical random variables in the presence of noisy observations. We present a new approximate algorithm for graphs with categorical variables that achieves low Hamming error in the presence of noisy vertex and edge obse…
Wasserstein gradient boosting predicts probability distributions for supervised learning.
problem Distribution-valued supervised learning where outputs are probability distributions.
method Fits a new weak learner to Wasserstein gradients of loss functionals of probability distributions.
result Superior performance in probabilistic prediction compared to existing methods.
Bayesian Optimization (BO) methods are useful for optimizing functions that are expen- sive to evaluate, lack an analytical expression and whose evaluations can be contaminated by noise. These methods rely on a probabilistic model of the objective function, typically a Gaussian process (GP), upon which an acquisition f…
A new gradient estimator for categorical distributions reduces bias and variance.
problem Intractability of gradients for categorical distributions in discrete latent variable models.
method CatLog-Derivative trick and IndeCateR gradient estimator.
result IndeCateR reduces bias and variance of gradients for categorical distributions.
Logistic regression models are a popular and effective method to predict the probability of categorical response data. However inference for these models can become computationally prohibitive for large datasets. Here we adapt ideas from symbolic data analysis to summarise the collection of predictor variables into his…
New method for scalable learning of IRT models from large datasets.
problem Efficiently learning latent variables in IRT models from large numbers of examinees and items.
method Leveraging logistic regression and coresets for scalable IRT training.
result Scalable learning of IRT models from large data is achieved.
Gryffin optimizes categorical variables in materials design, leveraging expert knowledge.
problem Optimizing categorical variables in complex design choices like molecule selection.
method Bayesian optimization with smooth approximations to categorical distributions, incorporating expert knowledge.
result Gryffin accelerates discovery of promising molecules and materials, highlighting relevant correlations.
Categorical d-separation criterion simplifies probability graph analysis.
problem Detecting causal relationships in probability distributions.
method Introducing categorical definitions for causal models and d-separation.
result Abstract version of d-separation criterion applies to various probability theories.
Multivariate categorical data occur in many applications of machine learning. One of the main difficulties with these vectors of categorical variables is sparsity. The number of possible observations grows exponentially with vector length, but dataset diversity might be poor in comparison. Recent models have gained sig…
Adaptive TFTs improve cryptocurrency price prediction accuracy.
problem Precise short-term price prediction in volatile cryptocurrency markets.
method Dynamic subseries lengths and pattern-based categorization.
result Significantly outperforms baseline models in prediction accuracy and profitability.
OMERF extends random forest for hierarchical data and ordinal responses.
problem Analyzing hierarchical data and ordinal responses using tree-based methods.
method Ordinal Mixed-Effects Random Forest (OMERF) that preserves flexibility and hierarchical structure.
result OMERF identifies discriminating student characteristics and estimates school effects.
A novel graph spectral method for mixed categorical and numerical data.
problem Feature learning for mixed data types (numerical and categorical).
method Graph spectral decomposition of the graph Laplacian to model probabilistic dependence structure.
result Increased separability and clusterability of observations in the transformed feature space.
Modern datasets are becoming heterogeneous. To this end, we present in this paper Mixed-Variate Restricted Boltzmann Machines for simultaneously modelling variables of multiple types and modalities, including binary and continuous responses, categorical options, multicategorical choices, ordinal assessment and category…