Descriptive statistics is a branch of statistics that focuses on the collection, analysis, and presentation of data. In the context of machine learning, descriptive statistics is an essential tool for understanding and preparing data before applying machine learning techniques.
Descriptive statistics allows you to obtain basic information about the data, such as the mean, standard deviation, frequency distribution, etc. These results can be used to identify patterns, trends, and outliers (atypical values) in the data. This information is valuable in guiding the selection of relevant features and in understanding the properties and distribution of the data.
Additionally, descriptive statistics can also be used to identify and address biases and heterogeneity in data, which can negatively affect the accuracy and effectiveness of machine learning models.