In many real-life problems, obtaining labelled data can be a very expensive and laborious task, while unlabeled data can be abundant. The availability of labeled data can seriously limit the performance of supervised learning methods. Here, we propose a semi-supervised classification tree induction algorithm that can exploit both the labelled and unlabeled data, while preserving all of the appealing characteristics of standard supervised decision trees: being non-parametric, efficient, having good predictive performance and producing readily interpretable models. Moreover, we further improve their predictive performance by using them as base predictive models in random forests. We performed an extensive empirical evaluation on 12 binary and 12 multi-class classification datasets. The results showed that the proposed methods improve the predictive performance of their supervised counterparts. Moreover, we show that, in cases with limited availability of labeled data, the semi-supervised decision trees often yield models that are smaller and easier to interpret than supervised decision trees.

Semi-supervised classification trees

CECI, MICHELANGELO;
2017-01-01

Abstract

In many real-life problems, obtaining labelled data can be a very expensive and laborious task, while unlabeled data can be abundant. The availability of labeled data can seriously limit the performance of supervised learning methods. Here, we propose a semi-supervised classification tree induction algorithm that can exploit both the labelled and unlabeled data, while preserving all of the appealing characteristics of standard supervised decision trees: being non-parametric, efficient, having good predictive performance and producing readily interpretable models. Moreover, we further improve their predictive performance by using them as base predictive models in random forests. We performed an extensive empirical evaluation on 12 binary and 12 multi-class classification datasets. The results showed that the proposed methods improve the predictive performance of their supervised counterparts. Moreover, we show that, in cases with limited availability of labeled data, the semi-supervised decision trees often yield models that are smaller and easier to interpret than supervised decision trees.
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Semisupervised-classification-trees.pdf

non disponibili

Tipologia: Documento in Post-print
Licenza: NON PUBBLICO - Accesso privato/ristretto
Dimensione 2.15 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
2.15 MB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11586/187729
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 41
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 38
social impact