Importance, Advantages, and Disadvantages of Using Decision Trees for Data Analysis

Decision trees are supervised machine learning categorizes for making several logic-based predictions. The base of decision trees is on those previously answered sets of questions, which are helpful to predict present and upcoming issues. Decision trees are further based on supervised learning models, commonly known as models which contain the desired categorization. Through decision trees, there is no clear-cut decision or answer. However, it can present several options to data scientists so they can make informed decisions. Decision tree analysis can imitate the thinking of humans, so in most cases, it is easy to interpret or understand the results from data scientists.  

Importance Of Decision-Trees

Decision trees resemble the original tree roots and from such root nodes, several decision nodes assumed as the source of other decisions. In decision trees, the nodes are further represented as questions, logic, or split points. Due to this fact, several scientists called the sub-sections the branches of decision trees. Following is the major importance of decision trees.

As these trees are highly popular for good reasoning, the decision tree results are understandable and straightforward due to the decision process visualization. Decision trees can streamline the description of the results of different models, specifically for all stakeholders, without categorizing the data-analytic knowledge. Stakeholders can be of two kinds; either they are specialists or non-specialist stakeholders. It is easy for non-specialist stakeholders to understand the logic and visualization of decision-tree-based data and models. Non-specialist stakeholders can also understand the reasoning behind decision-making through the decision trees. In machine learning, the major barrier is explainability. It is significant to use decision trees in data analysis so that both non-specialist and specialist users can understand the analysis properly. 

Another major importance of decision trees lies in the phase of data preparation learning models. According to the decision tree models, there is less applicability of data clearance as compared to other data analysis approaches. Decision trees always avoid the data normalization requirement in data analysis early phases. Decision tree models are applicable in both numerical and categorical data sets, so in qualitative variables, there is no need for transformation as required in other data analysis techniques. Following are the major significances of decision trees in data analysis:

• Easy to understand, straightforward and even non-professional stakeholders can also understand the logic, working behind the decision tree
• It is descriptive in nature, so such kinds of models can be described within the model and there is no need for other kinds of algorithms to understand the logic
• There is no need for data normalization, and it is due to the fact that techniques may process both categorical and numerical variables
• It is important for future modeling decision trees to make things according to the hierarchy of features.

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Advantages And Disadvantages Of Decision-Trees

Advantages Of Decision Trees

Following are the major advantages of decision trees:

• Decision trees can be visualized and simple to understand
• Decision trees need less preparation of data as compared to other data analysis models, which require dummy variables, normalization, and other kinds of blank values
• It is a cost-effective data analysis model and most of the logarithms are further used to train other models of decision trees
• Decision tree data analysis sets can manage both categorical and numerical data. Therefore, a major form of decision tree model, “scikit-learning” does not provide any support to categorical variables
• Decision trees are capable of handling different result-oriented issues
• Decision trees using the white box model through which if any given situation in a model is observable, the description regarding condition can be explained easily by Boolean logic.
• Decision trees can validate the specific model with the use of statistical examinations. It can boost the level of reliability and functionality of the decision tree data analysis model.
• In case of some kinds of violations in assumptions, the model is able to perform accurately.  

Disadvantages

Several disadvantages are associated with decision tree data analysis and the major drawback is overfitting issues. According to the decision tree data analysis, the main aim is to achieve generalization and a high degree of reliability. The decision trees can appropriately start processing unseen data sets once the process is deployed. The overfitting disadvantage is when the analysis model is too closely fitted to the data used in training; it can make data less accurate due to encountering the latest data sets.

Overfitting is considered the most important drawback of the decision tree as it can further cause oversized and complexity. However, it can be minimized with the process of pruning. Snipping or pruning can remove all those unnecessary data nodes which are irrelevant in the data analysis model. These extra branches or nodes of data have no extra information, so their clipping is the only option left. Pruning may be measured thoroughly with the cross-validation process in decision tree analysis. Following are the major disadvantages of the decision tree data analysis model:

• There are several chances of growing complexity by decision-trees, so snipping is required periodically to remove unnecessary data nodes
•  Strong consideration is required to eliminate the over fitting issues in the decision  trees
• Another major issue is about small tweaks, and these tweaks can create a big impact on the decision tree
• The approach of decision tree data analysis considers less accurate with the problems of regression as compared to other data analysis tools, fundamentally with continuous numerical results.
• There is an issue of bias while snipping the unnecessary data nodes, and it can be challenged by other researchers

Conclusion

Decision trees can be explained with two entities, such as leaves and decision nodes (roots). It is a non-parametric learning algorithm through which it is possible to manage both regression and classification tasks. The decision tree model further holds a hierarchical structure of the tree which further consists of different roots (nodes of data), branches (related data sets), and leaf nodes (sometimes considered unnecessary data sets).