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One-Hot Encoding | Processing Categorical Data
Data Preprocessing
course content

Course Content

Data Preprocessing

Data Preprocessing

1. Brief Introduction
2. Processing Quantitative Data
3. Processing Categorical Data
4. Time Series Data Processing
5. Feature Engineering
6. Moving on to Tasks

bookOne-Hot Encoding

So, let's start to understand when and what encoding methods are best to use.

One-hot encoding is generally better to use when the categorical variable has no natural ordering or hierarchy between the categories and when the number of unique categories is relatively small. It is commonly used for nominal categorical data, where the categories have no inherent order or relationship between them.

Take a look at some examples of nominal categorical data:

  • Colors: red, blue, green, yellow, etc.;
  • Countries: USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan, etc.;
  • Different pets: dog, cat, bird, fish, etc.;
  • Genres of music: pop, rock, hip hop, country, etc.;
  • Marital status: single, married, divorced, widowed, etc..

The basic idea behind one-hot encoding is to create a binary (0/1) variable for each category in the categorical variable.

We can perform one-hot encoding using the pd.get_dummies() method, which creates 3 new binary columns for each of the three unique color values. The resulting dataset shows the binary representation of each color value:

12345678910
import pandas as pd # Create a sample dataset with categorical data dataset = pd.DataFrame({'color': ['red', 'green', 'blue', 'red', 'blue']}) # Perform one-hot encoding one_hot_encoded = pd.get_dummies(dataset['color']) # Display the one-hot encoded dataframe print(one_hot_encoded)
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Task
test

Swipe to show code editor

Use the one-hot encoding method on the 'cars.csv' dataset.

Switch to desktopSwitch to desktop for real-world practiceContinue from where you are using one of the options below
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Section 3. Chapter 2
toggle bottom row

bookOne-Hot Encoding

So, let's start to understand when and what encoding methods are best to use.

One-hot encoding is generally better to use when the categorical variable has no natural ordering or hierarchy between the categories and when the number of unique categories is relatively small. It is commonly used for nominal categorical data, where the categories have no inherent order or relationship between them.

Take a look at some examples of nominal categorical data:

  • Colors: red, blue, green, yellow, etc.;
  • Countries: USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan, etc.;
  • Different pets: dog, cat, bird, fish, etc.;
  • Genres of music: pop, rock, hip hop, country, etc.;
  • Marital status: single, married, divorced, widowed, etc..

The basic idea behind one-hot encoding is to create a binary (0/1) variable for each category in the categorical variable.

We can perform one-hot encoding using the pd.get_dummies() method, which creates 3 new binary columns for each of the three unique color values. The resulting dataset shows the binary representation of each color value:

12345678910
import pandas as pd # Create a sample dataset with categorical data dataset = pd.DataFrame({'color': ['red', 'green', 'blue', 'red', 'blue']}) # Perform one-hot encoding one_hot_encoded = pd.get_dummies(dataset['color']) # Display the one-hot encoded dataframe print(one_hot_encoded)
copy
Task
test

Swipe to show code editor

Use the one-hot encoding method on the 'cars.csv' dataset.

Switch to desktopSwitch to desktop for real-world practiceContinue from where you are using one of the options below
Everything was clear?

How can we improve it?

Thanks for your feedback!

Section 3. Chapter 2
toggle bottom row

bookOne-Hot Encoding

So, let's start to understand when and what encoding methods are best to use.

One-hot encoding is generally better to use when the categorical variable has no natural ordering or hierarchy between the categories and when the number of unique categories is relatively small. It is commonly used for nominal categorical data, where the categories have no inherent order or relationship between them.

Take a look at some examples of nominal categorical data:

  • Colors: red, blue, green, yellow, etc.;
  • Countries: USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan, etc.;
  • Different pets: dog, cat, bird, fish, etc.;
  • Genres of music: pop, rock, hip hop, country, etc.;
  • Marital status: single, married, divorced, widowed, etc..

The basic idea behind one-hot encoding is to create a binary (0/1) variable for each category in the categorical variable.

We can perform one-hot encoding using the pd.get_dummies() method, which creates 3 new binary columns for each of the three unique color values. The resulting dataset shows the binary representation of each color value:

12345678910
import pandas as pd # Create a sample dataset with categorical data dataset = pd.DataFrame({'color': ['red', 'green', 'blue', 'red', 'blue']}) # Perform one-hot encoding one_hot_encoded = pd.get_dummies(dataset['color']) # Display the one-hot encoded dataframe print(one_hot_encoded)
copy
Task
test

Swipe to show code editor

Use the one-hot encoding method on the 'cars.csv' dataset.

Switch to desktopSwitch to desktop for real-world practiceContinue from where you are using one of the options below
Everything was clear?

How can we improve it?

Thanks for your feedback!

So, let's start to understand when and what encoding methods are best to use.

One-hot encoding is generally better to use when the categorical variable has no natural ordering or hierarchy between the categories and when the number of unique categories is relatively small. It is commonly used for nominal categorical data, where the categories have no inherent order or relationship between them.

Take a look at some examples of nominal categorical data:

  • Colors: red, blue, green, yellow, etc.;
  • Countries: USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan, etc.;
  • Different pets: dog, cat, bird, fish, etc.;
  • Genres of music: pop, rock, hip hop, country, etc.;
  • Marital status: single, married, divorced, widowed, etc..

The basic idea behind one-hot encoding is to create a binary (0/1) variable for each category in the categorical variable.

We can perform one-hot encoding using the pd.get_dummies() method, which creates 3 new binary columns for each of the three unique color values. The resulting dataset shows the binary representation of each color value:

12345678910
import pandas as pd # Create a sample dataset with categorical data dataset = pd.DataFrame({'color': ['red', 'green', 'blue', 'red', 'blue']}) # Perform one-hot encoding one_hot_encoded = pd.get_dummies(dataset['color']) # Display the one-hot encoded dataframe print(one_hot_encoded)
copy
Task
test

Swipe to show code editor

Use the one-hot encoding method on the 'cars.csv' dataset.

Switch to desktopSwitch to desktop for real-world practiceContinue from where you are using one of the options below
Section 3. Chapter 2
Switch to desktopSwitch to desktop for real-world practiceContinue from where you are using one of the options below
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