Generalized conditional entropy and a metric splitting criterion for decision trees

Abstract

We examine a new approach to building decision tree by introducing a geometric splitting criterion, based on the properties of a family of metrics on the space of partitions of a finite set. This criterion can be adapted to the characteristics of the data sets and the needs of the users and yields decision trees that have smaller sizes and fewer leaves than the trees built with standard methods and have comparable or better accuracy. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.