Data Science Interview Questions and Answers
Ques 16. Explain the K-means clustering algorithm and its use cases.
K-means is an unsupervised clustering algorithm that partitions data into k clusters based on similarity. It aims to minimize the sum of squared distances between data points and their assigned cluster centroids.
Example:
Segmenting customers based on purchasing behavior to identify marketing strategies for different groups.
Ques 17. What is the difference between correlation and causation?
Correlation measures the statistical association between two variables, while causation implies a cause-and-effect relationship. Correlation does not imply causation, and establishing causation requires additional evidence.
Example:
There may be a correlation between ice cream sales and drownings, but ice cream consumption does not cause drownings.
Ques 18. Explain the term 'hyperparameter tuning' in the context of machine learning.
Hyperparameter tuning involves optimizing the hyperparameters of a machine learning model to achieve better performance. Techniques include grid search, random search, and more advanced methods like Bayesian optimization.
Example:
Adjusting the learning rate and the number of hidden layers in a neural network to maximize accuracy.
Ques 19. What is cross-entropy loss, and how is it used in classification models?
Cross-entropy loss measures the difference between the predicted probabilities and the actual class labels. It is commonly used as a loss function in classification models, encouraging the model to assign higher probabilities to the correct classes.
Example:
In a neural network for image classification, cross-entropy loss penalizes incorrect predictions with low probabilities.
Ques 20. Explain the concept of A/B testing and its significance in data-driven decision-making.
A/B testing involves comparing two versions (A and B) of a variable to determine which performs better. It is widely used in marketing and product development to make data-driven decisions and optimize outcomes.
Example:
Testing two different website designs (A and B) to determine which leads to higher user engagement.
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