Description: Input data normalization is a crucial process in data preprocessing that involves scaling the values of features in a dataset to fit within a specific range, commonly between 0 and 1. This procedure is essential to ensure that different features contribute equally to the analysis and machine learning models. Without normalization, features with wider value ranges can dominate the training process, leading to biased or inaccurate results. Normalization helps improve the convergence of optimization algorithms, such as gradient descent, and facilitates comparison between different features. Additionally, it is particularly relevant in algorithms that rely on distances, such as k-nearest neighbors (k-NN) and support vector machines (SVM), where the scale of the data can significantly influence model performance. In summary, input data normalization is a fundamental step in data preprocessing that ensures all attributes are treated fairly and effectively in subsequent analyses.
