Attribute construction

We've already seen an example of this type of data transformation. We saw that we could employ it to transform categorical attributes into numerical ones. As we discussed, using attribute construction requires having a deep understanding of the environment that the data has been collected from. For instance, in Figure 14.6, we were able to construct the Education Years attribute from Education level because we have a pretty good idea of the working of the education system in the environment the data was collected from.

Attribute construction can also be done by combining more than one attribute. Let's see an example and learn how this could be possible.

Example – construct one transformed attribute from two attributes

Do you know what Body Mass Index (BMI) is? BMI is a result of attribute construction by researchers and physicians, who were looking for a healthiness index that takes both the weight and height of individuals into account...