Logistic Regression Inside and Out

Book excerpt: If you have a yes or no question, then you can probably answer it with a logistic regression model. Logistic regression is most appropriate when the dependent variable has two possible outcomes. Will customers respond to an offer or unsubscribe, will the enemy fight or flee, will subjects respond to treatment or grow ill, will livestock live or die? Yes or no? I am often asked if logistic regression is a machine learning algorithm. I say that it is not, for I can formulate it mathematically and solve it using matrix equations, for example. Its solution is derived deterministically, and estimation is performed mathematically, through optimization methods. The logit link functionis the mathematical expression-a nonlinear, exponential equation, and we transform it to a linear equation by applying the natural logarithm. Here we find mathematical modeling, probability, and statistics. Here I will take you on a journey into the art and science of predictive modeling using logistic regression, inside-and-out.