Synopses & Reviews
Today, successful firms compete and win based on analytics. Modeling Techniques in Predictive Analytics brings together all the concepts, techniques, and R code you need to excel in any role involving analytics. Thomas W. Miller’s unique balanced approach combines business context and quantitative tools, appealing to managers, analysts, programmers, and students alike. Miller addresses multiple business challenges and business cases, including segmentation, brand positioning, product choice modeling, pricing research, finance, sports, text analytics, sentiment analysis, and social network analysis. He illuminates the use of cross-sectional data, time series, spatial, and even spatio-temporal data. For each problem, Miller explains why the problem matters, what data is relevant, how to explore your data once you’ve identified it, and then how to successfully model that data. You’ll learn how to model data conceptually, with words and figures; and then how to model it with realistic R programs that deliver actionable insights and knowledge. Miller walks you through model construction, explanatory variable subset selection, and validation, demonstrating best practices for improving out-of-sample predictive performance. He employs data visualization and statistical graphics in exploring data, presenting models, and evaluating performance. All example code is presented in R, today’s #1 system for applied statistics, statistical research, and predictive modeling; code is set apart from other text so it’s easy to find for those who want it (and easy to skip for those who don’t).
Synopsis
This uniquely accessible book will help you use predictive analytics to solve real business problems and drive real competitive advantage. If you're new to the discipline, it will give you the strong foundation you need to get accurate, actionable results. If you're already a modeler, programmer, or manager, it will help you master crucial skills you don't yet have.
Unlike most books on predictive analytics, this guide illuminates the discipline through practical case studies, realistic vignettes, and intuitive data visualizations–not complex mathematics. Thomas W. Miller, leader of Northwestern University’s pioneering program in predictive analytics, guides you through every step: defining problems, identifying data, crafting and optimizing models, writing effective R code, interpreting results, and more.
Each chapter focuses on one of today’s most important applications for predictive analytics, giving you the skills and knowledge to put models to work–and gain maximum value from them.
About the Author
Thomas W. Miller is faculty director of the Predictive Analytics program at Northwestern University. He has designed courses for the program, including Marketing Analytics, Advanced Modeling Techniques, Data Visualization, and the capstone course. He has taught extensively in the program and works with more than forty other faculty members in delivering training in predictive analytics and data science.
Miller is also owner and president of Research Publishers LLC. He has consulted widely in the areas of retail site selection, product positioning, segmentation, and pricing in competitive markets, and has worked with predictive models for over 30 years.
Miller’s books include Data and Text Mining: A Business Applications Approach, Research and Information Services: An Integrated Approach for Business, and a book about predictive modeling in sports, Without a Tout: How to Pick a Winning Team.
Before entering academia, Miller spent nearly 15 years in business IT in the computer and transportation industries. He also directed the A. C. Nielsen Center for Marketing Research and taught market research and business strategy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
He holds a Ph.D. in psychology (psychometrics), a master’s degree in statistics from the University of Minnesota, and an MBA and master’s degree in economics from the University of Oregon.
Table of Contents
Preface v
Figures ix
Tables xiii
Exhibits xv
1. Analytics and Data Science 1
2. Advertising and Promotion 15
3. Preference and Choice 29
4. Market Basket Analysis 37
5. Economic Data Analysis 53
6. Operations Management 67
7. Text Analytics 83
8. Sentiment Analysis 113
9. Sports Analytics 149
10. Brand and Price 173
11. Spatial Data Analysis 209
12. The Big Little Data Game 231
A. There's a Pack for That 237
B. Measurement 253
C. Code and Utilities 267
Bibliography 297
Index 327