Data Science: Classifier (Definitions)

[pattern classifier:] "A neural net to determine whether an input pattern is or is not a member of a particular class. Training data consists of input patterns and the class to which each belongs, but does not require a description of each class; the net forms exemplar vectors for each class as it learns the training patterns." (Laurene V Fausett, "Fundamentals of Neural Networks: Architectures, Algorithms, and Applications", 1994)

[Bayes classifier:] "statistical classification algorithm in which the class borders are determined decision-theoretically, on the basis of class distributions and misclassification costs." (Teuvo Kohonen, "Self-Organizing Maps" 3rd Ed., 2001)

[nonparametric classifier:] "classification method that is not based on any mathematical functional form for the description of class regions, but directly refers to the available exemplary data." (Teuvo Kohonen, "Self-Organizing Maps" 3rd Ed., 2001)

[parametric classifier:] "classification method in which the class regions are defined by specified mathematical functions involving free parameters." (Teuvo Kohonen, "Self-Organizing Maps" 3rd Ed., 2001)

"A set of patterns and rules to assign a class to new examples." (Ching W Wang, "New Ensemble Machine Learning Method for Classification and Prediction on Gene Expression Data", 2008)

"A structured model that maps unlabeled instances to finite set of classes." (Lior Rokach, "Incorporating Fuzzy Logic in Data Mining Tasks", Encyclopedia of Artificial Intelligence, 2009)

"A decision-supporting system that given an unseen (to-be-classified) input object yields a prediction, for instance, it classifies the given object to a certain class." (Ivan Bruha, "Knowledge Combination vs. Meta-Learning", 2009)

"Algorithm that produces class labels as output, from a set of features of an object. A classifier, for example, is used to classify certain features extracted from a face image and provide a label (an identity of the individual)." (Oscar D Suárez & Gloria B García, "Component Analysis in Artificial Vision" Encyclopedia of Artificial Intelligence, 2009)

"An algorithm to assign unknown object samples to their respective classes. The decision is made according to the classification feature vectors describing the object in question." (Michael Haefner, "Pit Pattern Classification Using Multichannel Features and Multiclassification", 2009)

"function that associates a class c to each input pattern x of interest. A classifier can be directly constructed from a set of pattern examples with their respective classes, or indirectly from a statistical model." (Óscar Pérez & Manuel Sánchez-Montañés, Class Prediction in Test Sets with Shifted Distributions, 2009)

[Naive Bayes classifier:] "A modeling technique where each attribute describes a class independent of any other attributes that also describe that class." (DAMA International, "The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management", 2011)

"An algorithm that implements classification in the field of machine learning and statistical analysis." (Golnoush Abaei & Ali Selamat, "Important Issues in Software Fault Prediction: A Road Map", 2014)

"A computational method that can be trained using known labeled data for predicting the label of unlabeled data. If there's only two labels (also called classes), the method is called 'detector'." (Addisson Salazar et al, "New Perspectives of Pattern Recognition for Automatic Credit Card Fraud Detection", 2018)

[Naive Bayes classifier:] "A way to classify a data item using Bayes' theorem concerning the conditional probabilities P(A|B)=(P(B|A) * P(A))/P(B). It also assumes that variables in the data are independent, which means that no variable affects the probability of the remaining variables attaining a certain value." (David Natingga, "Data Science Algorithms in a Week" 2nd Ed., 2018)

"A type of machine learning program that segments a set of cases into different classes or categorizations." (Shalin Hai-Jew, "Methods for Analyzing and Leveraging Online Learning Data", 2019)

"A supervised Data Mining algorithm used to categorize an instance into one of the two or more classes." (Mu L Wong & S Senthil "Development of Accurate and Timely Students' Performance Prediction Model Utilizing Heart Rate Data", 2020)

"A model that can be used to place objects into discrete categories based on some set of features. Classifiers are trained on datasets." (Laurel Powell et al, "Art Innovative Systems for Value Tagging", 2021)

Process Management: Process Improvement (Definitions)

"A program of activities designed to improve the performance and maturity of the organization's processes, and the results of such a program." (Sandy Shrum et al, "CMMI®: Guidelines for Process Integration and Product Improvement", 2003)

"Continuous improvement of work processes to achieve project goals and stakeholder satisfaction efficiently and effectively." (Timothy J  Kloppenborg et al, "Project Leadership", 2003)

"(1) A program of activities designed to improve the performance and maturity of an organization’s processes. (2) The results of such a program." (Richard D Stutzke, "Estimating Software-Intensive Systems: Projects, Products, and Processes", 2005)

"The organized activity of defining, infusing, and improving the processes used by individual projects and organizations to develop software." (Richard D Stutzke, "Estimating Software-Intensive Systems: Projects, Products, and Processes", 2005)

[internal process improvement (IPI):] "An appraisal mode of usage in which organizations appraise internal processes, generally to baseline their process capability, to establish or update a process improvement program, or to measure progress in implementing such a program." (Sally A Miller et al, "People CMM: A Framework for Human Capital Management" 2nd Ed., 2009)

"A business management strategy focusing on quality control testing and optimizing processes through reducing process variance." (Evan Stubbs, "Big Data, Big Innovation", 2014)

[business process improvement (BPI):] "Analyzing and redesigning business processes to streamline them and gain efficiencies, reduce cycle times, and improve auditability and worker productivity." (Robert F Smallwood, "Information Governance: Concepts, Strategies, and Best Practices", 2014)

"A program of activities designed to improve the performance and maturity of the organization’s software processes and the results of such a program." (CMMI)

Process Management: Workflow (Definitions)

"Similar to a business process, a description of the activities or tasks that have to be done to fulfill a certain business need." (Nicolai M Josuttis, "SOA in Practice", 2007)

"A series of granular steps that are put together in proper sequence to execute some bit of logic." (Tony Fisher, "The Data Asset", 2009)

"A set of components and relations between them, used to define a complex process from simple building blocks. Relations may be in the form of data links which allow the output of one component to be used as the input of another, or control links which state some conditions on the execution of a component." (Mark Olive, "SHARE: A European Healthgrid Roadmap", 2009)

"The sequence of steps needed to carry out a business process." (Judith Hurwitz et al, "Service Oriented Architecture For Dummies" 2nd Ed., 2009)

"An ordered series of steps that accomplish some defined purpose according to a set of rules." (Bruce Bukovics, "Pro WF: Windows Workflow in .NET 4", 2010)

"Similar to a business process; a description of the activities or tasks that have to be done to fulfill a certain business need. Some people differentiate between workflows and business processes by stating that business processes describe more generally what has to be done, whereas workflows describe how activities or tasks should be carried out." (David Lyle & John G Schmidt, "Lean Integration", 2010)

"System process to manage the routing and approval of documents and transactions across multiple people and/or departments within an organization. Also, automating a business approval process that will notify the appropriate resources when activities/approvals need to be performed." (Janice M Roehl-Anderson, "IT Best Practices for Financial Managers", 2010)

"A predefined sequence of activities that complete a process." (DAMA International, "The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management", 2011)

"Defines how people and tasks interact to create, update, manage, and deliver content. Workflow helps organizations perform tasks in an efficient and repeatable manner." (Charles Cooper & Ann Rockley, "Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy" 2nd Ed., 2012)

"This is a sequence of task-oriented steps needed to carry out a business process." (Marcia Kaufman et al, "Big Data For Dummies", 2013)

"The specification of actions, actors, sequencing of actions, and completion criteria that, taken together, accomplish a larger task." (O Sami Saydjari, "Engineering Trustworthy Systems: Get Cybersecurity Design Right the First Time", 2018)