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Data Science Interview Questions

Interview qs

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7 views

Data Science Interview Questions

Interview qs

Uploaded by

ubergarima
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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21.

What is ensemble
learning and how does it
improve model
performance?

Answer :
Ensemble Learning:
- Combines multiple
models (weak learners)
to create a stronger
model.
- Techniques:
- Bagging: Reduces
variance by averaging
predictions (e.g., Random
Forest).
- Boosting: Reduces
bias by sequentially
correcting errors (e.g.,
AdaBoost, Gradient
Boosting).
- Stacking: Combines
multiple models by
training a meta-model on
their predictions.

22. Explain the concept of


gradient descent.
Answer :
Gradient Descent:
- An optimization
algorithm used to
minimize the loss
function by iteratively
moving towards the
minimum value of the
function.
- Types:
- Batch Gradient
Descent: Uses the entire
dataset to compute the
gradient.
- Stochastic Gradient
Descent (SGD): Uses one
training example per
iteration.
- Mini-Batch Gradient
Descent: Uses a small
batch of training
examples per iteration.

23. What is the


importance of the
learning rate in gradient
descent?
Answer :
Learning Rate:
- A hyperparameter that
controls the step size
during gradient descent
updates.
- Importance:
- Too high: May cause
the algorithm to
overshoot the minimum.
- Too low: May result in
slow convergence or
getting stuck in local
minima.
- Choosing an appropriate
learning rate is crucial for
effective and efficient
training.

24. How do you handle


categorical data in
machine learning?

Answer :
Handling Categorical
Data:
- Label Encoding:
Converts categories to
numeric labels.
- One-Hot Encoding:
Converts categories to
binary vectors.
- Target Encoding:
Replaces categories with
the mean of the target
variable for each category.
- Frequency Encoding:
Replaces categories with
their frequency counts.

25. Explain the difference


between parametric and
non-parametric models.

Answer :
Parametric Models:
- Assumes a specific
form for the function that
models the data.
- Example: Linear
Regression.

Non-Parametric Models:
- Does not assume a
specific form and can
adapt to the data more
flexibly.
- Example: Decision Trees,
k-Nearest Neighbors
(k-NN).

26. What is the curse of


dimensionality and how
can it be addressed?

Answer :
Curse of Dimensionality:
- Refers to various
phenomena that arise
when analyzing and
organizing data in
high-dimensional spaces.
- Challenges: Increased
sparsity, overfitting,
increased computational
cost.

Addressing the Curse of


Dimensionality:
- Dimensionality
Reduction: Techniques
like PCA, t-SNE, LDA.
- Feature Selection:
Selecting the most
relevant features based
on importance scores.
- Regularization: Adding
penalties to model
complexity.
- Data Collection:
Gathering more data to
fill the high-dimensional
space.

27. Explain the concept of


a decision tree and its
components.
Answer :
Decision Tree:
- A tree-like model used
for classification and
regression tasks.
- Components:
- Root Node: The
topmost node
representing the entire
dataset.
- Internal Nodes: Nodes
that represent the
features used for splitting.
- Leaf Nodes: Terminal
nodes representing the
output or decision.
- Branches: Paths that
connect nodes and
represent decision rules.

28. What is ensemble


learning, and what are
some popular ensemble
techniques?

Answer :
Ensemble Learning:
- Combines multiple
models to create a more
robust and accurate
prediction.

Popular Ensemble
Techniques:
- Bagging (Bootstrap
Aggregating): Reduces
variance by training
multiple models on
different subsets of data
and averaging their
predictions (e.g., Random
Forest).
- Boosting: Reduces bias
by sequentially training
models, each correcting
the errors of its
predecessor (e.g.,
AdaBoost, Gradient
Boosting).
- Stacking: Combines
multiple models by
training a meta-model on
their predictions.

29. How does the


k-nearest neighbors
(k-NN) algorithm work?

Answer :
k-Nearest Neighbors
(k-NN) Algorithm:
- A simple,
non-parametric
classification and
regression algorithm.
- Steps:
- Choose the number of
neighbors (k).
- Calculate the distance
between the query point
and all training points.
- Select the k nearest
neighbors based on the
smallest distances.
- For classification,
assign the most frequent
class among the
neighbors.
- For regression,
average the values of the
neighbors.

30. What is the purpose


of the ROC curve and
AUC in evaluating models?

Answer :
ROC Curve (Receiver
Operating Characteristic):
- Plots the true positive
rate (TPR) against the
false positive rate (FPR)
at various threshold
settings.
- Shows the trade-off
between sensitivity (recall)
and specificity.
AUC (Area Under the
Curve):
- Measures the area
under the ROC curve.
- A higher AUC indicates a
better model
performance, with 1 being
a perfect model and 0.5
representing a random
model.
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