Description: Data normalization is the process of transforming data to a common scale, allowing different variables to be comparable and enabling machine learning algorithms to operate more efficiently. This process is crucial in data preprocessing, as algorithms can be sensitive to the scale of the data. Without normalization, features with broader ranges can dominate the learning process, resulting in suboptimal performance. Normalization can involve techniques such as Min-Max scaling, which adjusts values to a specific range, or standardization, which transforms data to have a mean of zero and a standard deviation of one. These techniques not only improve the convergence of algorithms but also help avoid issues like overfitting. In summary, normalization is a fundamental step in data preprocessing that ensures machine learning models are more robust and accurate when working with data of varying scales and distributions.
