Add Binary Flags for Missing Values for Machine Learning - AnalyticsWeek

Missing values can cause problems when modeling classification and regression prediction problems with machine learning algorithms. A common approach is to replace missing values with a calculated statistic, such as the mean of the column. This allows the dataset to be modeled as per normal but gives no indication to the model that the row original contained missing values. One approach to address this issue is to include additional binary flag input features that indicate whether a row or a column contained a missing value that was imputed. This additional information may or may not be helpful to the model in predicting the target value.