Feature selection

Abstract

In this chapter, one of the most commonly used techniques for dimensionality and data reduction will be described. The feature selection problem will be discussed and the main aspects and methods will be analyzed. The chapter starts with the topics theoretical background (Sect. 7.1), dividing it into the major perspectives (Sect. 7.2) and the main aspects, including applications and the evaluation of feature selections methods (Sect. 7.3). From this point on, the successive sections make a tour from the classical approaches, to the most advanced proposals, in Sect. 7.4. Focusing on hybridizations, better optimization models and derivatives methods related with feature selection, Sect. 7.5 provides a summary on related and advanced topics, such as feature construction and feature extraction. An enumeration of some comparative experimental studies conducted in the specialized literature is included in Sect. 7.6. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015.