Quantile-DEA classifiers with interval data

Abstract

This research intends to develop the classifiers for dealing with binary classification problems with interval data whose difficulty to be tackled has been well recognized, regardless of the field. The proposed classifiers involve using the ideas and techniques of both quantiles and data envelopment analysis (DEA), and are thus referred to as quantile-DEA classifiers. That is, the classifiers first use the concept of quantiles to generate a desired number of exact-data sets from a training-data set comprising interval data. Then, the classifiers adopt the concept and technique of an intersection-form production possibility set in the DEA framework to construct acceptance domains with each corresponding to an exact-data set and thus a quantile. Here, an intersection-form acceptance domain is actually represented by a linear inequality system, which enables the quantile-DEA classifiers to efficiently discover the groups to which large volumes of data belong. In addition, the quantile feature enables the proposed classifiers not only to help reveal patterns, but also to tell the user the value or significance of these patterns. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York.