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Decision Tree

The Decision Tree Classification Algorithm is a supervised learning technique primarily used for classification problems, structured as a tree with decision nodes and leaf nodes. Key terminologies include root node, leaf node, splitting, pruning, and parent/child nodes, with the algorithm working by recursively splitting the dataset based on attribute selection measures like Information Gain and Gini Index. Various algorithms such as CART and ID3 are used to build decision trees, with practical examples illustrating how to calculate entropy and information gain to determine the best attributes for classification.

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14 views7 pages

Decision Tree

The Decision Tree Classification Algorithm is a supervised learning technique primarily used for classification problems, structured as a tree with decision nodes and leaf nodes. Key terminologies include root node, leaf node, splitting, pruning, and parent/child nodes, with the algorithm working by recursively splitting the dataset based on attribute selection measures like Information Gain and Gini Index. Various algorithms such as CART and ID3 are used to build decision trees, with practical examples illustrating how to calculate entropy and information gain to determine the best attributes for classification.

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priskilla Selvin
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Decision Tree Classification Algorithm

o Decision Tree is a Supervised learning technique that can be used for both
classification and Regression problems, but mostly it is preferred for solving
Classification problems. It is a tree-structured classifier, where internal nodes
represent the features of a dataset, branches represent the decision rules and each leaf
node represents the outcome.
o In a Decision tree, there are two nodes, which are the Decision Node and Leaf
Node. Decision nodes are used to make any decision and have multiple branches,
whereas Leaf nodes are the output of those decisions and do not contain any further
branches.
o The decisions or the test are performed on the basis of features of the given dataset.
o It is a graphical representation for getting all the possible solutions to a
problem/decision based on given conditions.

Decision Tree Terminologies


 Root Node: Root node is from where the decision tree starts. It represents the entire
dataset, which further gets divided into two or more homogeneous sets.
 Leaf Node: Leaf nodes are the final output node, and the tree cannot be segregated
further after getting a leaf node.
 Splitting: Splitting is the process of dividing the decision node/root node into sub-
nodes according to the given conditions.
 Branch/Sub Tree: A tree formed by splitting the tree.
 Pruning: Pruning is the process of removing the unwanted branches from the tree.
 Parent/Child node: The root node of the tree is called the parent node, and other
nodes are called the child nodes.

How does the Decision Tree algorithm Work?


In a decision tree, for predicting the class of the given dataset, the algorithm starts from
the root node of the tree. This algorithm compares the values of root attribute with the
record (real dataset) attribute and, based on the comparison, follows the branch and jumps
to the next node.
For the next node, the algorithm again compares the attribute value with the other sub-
nodes and move further. It continues the process until it reaches the leaf node of the tree.
The complete process can be better understood using the below algorithm:
o Step-1: Begin the tree with the root node, says S, which contains the complete dataset.
o Step-2: Find the best attribute in the dataset using Attribute Selection Measure
(ASM).
o Step-3: Divide the S into subsets that contains possible values for the best attributes.
o Step-4: Generate the decision tree node, which contains the best attribute.
o Step-5: Recursively make new decision trees using the subsets of the dataset created
in step -3. Continue this process until a stage is reached where you cannot further
classify the nodes and called the final node as a leaf node.

Example: Suppose there is a candidate who has a job offer and wants to decide whether
he should accept the offer or Not. So, to solve this problem, the decision tree starts with
the root node (Salary attribute by ASM). The root node splits further into the next
decision node (distance from the office) and one leaf node based on the corresponding
labels. The next decision node further gets split into one decision node (Cab facility) and
one leaf node. Finally, the decision node splits into two leaf nodes (Accepted offers and
Declined offer). Consider the below diagram:

Attribute Selection Measures


While implementing a Decision tree, the main issue arises that how to select the best
attribute for the root node and for sub-nodes. So, to solve such problems there is a
technique which is called as Attribute selection measure or ASM. By this measurement,
we can easily select the best attribute for the nodes of the tree. There are two popular
techniques for ASM, which are:
o Information Gain
o Gini Index
Information Gain:
o Information gain is the measurement of changes in entropy after the segmentation of a
dataset based on an attribute.
Information Gain= Entropy(S)- [(Weighted Avg) *Entropy(each feature)
Entropy: Entropy is a metric to measure the impurity in a given attribute. It specifies
randomness in data. Entropy can be calculated as:
Entropy(s)= -P(yes)log2 P(yes)- P(no) log2 P(no)
Where,
o S= Total number of samples
o P(yes)= probability of yes
o P(no)= probability of no
2. Gini Index:
o Gini index is a measure of impurity or purity used while creating a decision tree in the
CART(Classification and Regression Tree) algorithm.
o An attribute with the low Gini index should be preferred as compared to the high Gini
index.
o It only creates binary splits, and the CART algorithm uses the Gini index to create
binary splits.
o Gini index can be calculated using the below formula:
Gini Index= 1- ∑jPj2

There are many algorithms there to build a decision tree. They are
1. CART (Classification and Regression Trees) — This makes use of Gini impurity as
the metric.
2. ID3 (Iterative Dichotomiser 3) — This uses entropy and information gain as metric.

Classification using the ID3 algorithm


Consider whether a dataset based on which we will determine whether to play football or not.

Here There are for independent variables to determine the dependent variable. The
independent variables are Outlook, Temperature, Humidity, and Wind. The dependent
variable is whether to play football or not.
As the first step, we have to find the parent node for our decision tree. For that follow the
steps:
Find the entropy of the class variable.
E(S) = -[(9/14)log(9/14) + (5/14)log(5/14)] = 0.94
note: Here typically we will take log to base 2.Here total there are 14 yes/no. Out of which 9
yes and 5 no.Based on it we calculated probability above.
From the above data for outlook we can arrive at the following table easily
Now we have to calculate average weighted entropy. ie, we have found the total of weights of each
feature multiplied by probabilities.

E(S, outlook) = (5/14)*E(3,2) + (4/14)*E(4,0) + (5/14)*E(2,3) =

(5/14)(-(3/5)log(3/5)-(2/5)log(2/5))+ (4/14)(0) + (5/14)((2/5)log(2/5)-(3/5)log(3/5)) = 0.693

The next step is to find the information gain. It is the difference between parent entropy and
average weighted entropy we found above.

IG(S, outlook) = 0.94 - 0.693 = 0.247

Similarly find Information gain for Temperature, Humidity, and Windy.

IG(S, Temperature) = 0.940 - 0.911 = 0.029

IG(S, Humidity) = 0.940 - 0.788 = 0.152

IG(S, Windy) = 0.940 - 0.8932 = 0.048

Now select the feature having the largest entropy gain. Here it is Outlook. So it forms the first
node(root node) of our decision tree.

Now our data look as follows

Since overcast contains only examples of class ‘Yes’ we can set it as yes. That means If outlook is
overcast football will be played. Now our decision tree looks as follows.
The next step is to find the next node in our decision tree. Now we will find one under sunny. We
have to determine which of the following Temperature, Humidity or Wind has higher information
gain.

Calculate parent entropy E(sunny)

E(sunny) = (-(3/5)log(3/5)-(2/5)log(2/5)) = 0.971.

Now Calculate the information gain of Temperature. IG(sunny, Temperature)

E(sunny, Temperature) = (2/5)*E(0,2) + (2/5)*E(1,1) + (1/5)*E(1,0)=2/5=0.4

Now calculate information gain.

IG(sunny, Temperature) = 0.971–0.4 =0.571

Similarly we get

IG(sunny, Humidity) = 0.971

IG(sunny, Windy) = 0.020

Here IG(sunny, Humidity) is the largest value. So Humidity is the node that comes under sunny.
For humidity from the above table, we can say that play will occur if humidity is normal and will not
occur if it is high. Similarly, find the nodes under rainy.

Note: A branch with entropy more than 0 needs further splitting.

Finally, our decision tree will look as below:

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