Modeling Techniques in Predictive Analytics

Thomas W. Miller is faculty director of the Predictive Analytics program at Northwestern University. He has designed courses for the program, including Marketing Analytics, Advanced Modeling Techniques, Data Visualization, and the capstone course. He has taught extensively in the program and works with more than forty other faculty members in delivering training in predictive analytics and data science.   Miller is also owner and president of Research Publishers LLC. He has consulted widely in the areas of retail site selection, product positioning, segmentation, and pricing in competitive markets, and has worked with predictive models for over 30 years.   Miller’s books include Data and Text Mining: A Business Applications Approach, Research and Information Services: An Integrated Approach for Business, and a book about predictive modeling in sports, Without a Tout: How to Pick a Winning Team.   Before entering academia, Miller spent nearly 15 years in business IT in the computer and transportation industries. He also directed the A. C. Nielsen Center for Marketing Research and taught market research and business strategy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.   He holds a Ph.D. in psychology (psychometrics), a master’s degree in statistics from the University of Minnesota, and an MBA and master’s degree in economics from the University of Oregon.

Preface   v

Figures   ix

Tables   xiii

Exhibits   xv

1. Analytics and Data Science   1

2. Advertising and Promotion   15

3. Preference and Choice   29

4. Market Basket Analysis   37

5. Economic Data Analysis   53

6. Operations Management   67

7. Text Analytics   83

8. Sentiment Analysis   113

9. Sports Analytics   149

10. Brand and Price   173

11. Spatial Data Analysis   209

12. The Big Little Data Game   231

A. There's a Pack for That   237

B. Measurement   253

C. Code and Utilities   267

Bibliography   297

Index   327