Talk:Predictive analytics/Archives/2012

This is an archive of past discussions about Predictive analytics. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Conclusion

Why is there a conclusion? Shouldn't the summary be in the introduction at the top? --Sydius (talk) 16:04, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

What is "Excel Miner"?

I searched google for "Excel Miner" and came up with nothing.

I'm guessing that this must be a reference to the "XLMiner" product http://www.xlminer.net/ --NorthernBloke 10:02, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

External links cleanup

I removed most of the external links per WP:EL and WP:SPAM. This is the type of article that should have few, if any external links other than sources. --Ronz 17:08, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

I've repeated the same cleanup, and placed Template:uw-spam1 warnings on a couple of the offenders' talk pages. The 'popular tools' section is almost an invitation to linkspam - possibly could do with retitling and rewording to avoid phrasing likely to attract spammers - see bottom of Wikipedia:Spam#External_link_spamming. However this article isn't really within my area of expertise. Please take this on if you know about the topic! --Qwfp (talk) 20:31, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

Expand Machine learning techniques section

I propose to expand the section Machine learning techniques with Group method of data handling. --BrutForce (talk) 03:51, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

Computer simulation

Isn't computer simulation a predicive analysis also? it's definitely a decision support system, and it predicts future outcome using known data, much like data mining. I think it should be added as an additional tool for Predictive analytics. 134.191.232.68 (talk) 13:52, 21 April 2012 (UTC)

Merge with forecasting?

I propose a merger with forecasting. Predictive analytics is the more complete article, but I think forecasting is the term that is more likely to be searched for. Apdevries 20:54, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

I totally agree with you. KT Forecast Manager 4 September 2006

I took a look at forecasting and I think you guys are probably right.CommodiCast 19:48, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

I am not so sure that I would take this view. There are three types of predictive analytics listed in the article and I am not sure that the term forecasting would encompass the descriptive and decision types. I also think that forecasting is a relatively generic term used in many disiplines while predictive analytics is a term for family of statistical procedures.--Jparrishucf 01:04, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

On the whole I agree with the last post. In my experience the term "forecasting" is predominately used where time/chronology are factors in the modelling process. Hence i would support the argument that "forecasting" is a form/subset of "predictive analytics". i also think that "predicting" is perhaps a more commonly used term than "forecasting".--John McConnell 10:23, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

The two should definitely not be merged. Forecasting will predict how many ice cream cones will be purchased. Predictive analytics will predict which customers are likely to buy an ice cream cone. For each individual element (customer), predictive analytics makes a prediction (score). That is, the primary use of the term predictive analytics refers to an application of predictive modeling (usually in a business context), where the model applies over individual elements. (Therefore, predictive analytics could generate an overall forecast, although it may not be the most accurate way to forecast volume, if the overall/high-level forecast/volume-count is your goal). (Eric Siegel, Ph.D., consultant in predictive analytics)

It looks like the arguments against merger are pretty good. I am removing the merge tag.CommodiCast 15:38, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

Yes, I agree. I plan to improve the forecasting article, and will then make a more explicit reference to forecasting from the predictive analytics page. Apdevries 21:51, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

I see that this is an old discussion, and I see that these two articles have not been merged. However, I still think that it might be valuable for me to articulate why I think these two articles should not be merged. The term forecasting is usually used to describe situations in which the thing being forecasted involves the specification of a projected series of data: multiple points in time, often with trends and seasonal patterns. The prototypical analytic technique is ARIMA modeling. However, the term predictive modeling is usually used to describe situations in which the thing being predicted is a behavior or event. Examples of this are predicting who someone will vote for in a specific election, whether or not a person will respond to a direct marketing offer, or the size of the donation a person will make to charity.Karl (talk) 22:11, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

Notable commercial predictive analytic tool vendors include

I suggest removing this section as being too far off topic, and instead just list tools, being sure to include entries from all the listed vendors. If there's no article about the specific tool(s) the currently listed vendor produces, link to the vendor's article or relevant subsection of the article. --Ronz (talk) 18:34, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

Good idea. I agree. I think a list of tools will be better than a list of the companies that created the tools. I know this industry space, so I can make this edit within the next 2 days.Karl (talk) 19:04, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

Thanks! --Ronz (talk) 01:27, 9 December 2012 (UTC)

OK, I made the requested change. Good idea. Thanks. Sorry it took longer than I thought for me to get to this. Note, if someone wants to put a citation for which tools are notable, someone can reference the Annual Data Miner Survey. Due to COI, I do not want to add this wiki-link myself. If a list of external citations to the Data Miner Survey is desired - here's the list. Only some of the citations listed there are wikipedia worthy peer reviewed journals and books; others are blogs and press releases. Karl (talk) 20:25, 14 December 2012 (UTC)