Glossary

k-Nearest Neighbors Prediction

k-Nearest Neighbors Prediction:

The k-nearest neighbors (k-NN) prediction is a method to predict a value of a target variable in a given record, using as a reference point a training set of similar objects. The basic idea is to choose k objects from the training set that are closest to the given object in terms of the predictor variables, then to form the weighted average of target variable for those k objects. The weights are usually chosen inversely proportionally to the distances from the target object.

See also: the chapter from XLMiner help, and the online short course Introduction to Data Mining.

Browse Other Glossary Entries

Test Yourself

Planning on taking an introductory statistics course, but not sure if you need to start at the beginning? Review the course description for each of our introductory statistics courses and estimate which best matches your level, then take the self test for that course. If you get all or almost all the questions correct, move on and take the next test.