Problem

We sourced the problem from Kaggle. We chose one competition (see link below) from this site - here on called PF. In summary, PF would like to accurately predict how fast pets are adopted (called by them “adoptability”).

PF is a platform that connects pet rescuers, shelters and adopters. It aims at helping rescued pets be adopted quickly. In case they aren’t adopted, there is a high chance that they’ll need to go through euthanasia.

The adopters who use the website and find a pet to adopt can go only through a handful of information available online (photo, description, stats, etc.). Their idea is that this data might be able to predict how fast a pet is adopted.

Once a good predictive algorithm is created, they plan to use the data in 2 ways:

  • Push further those pets with highest likelihood of being adopted
  • Implement the criteria across the board to “plain the field” and give all pets the same fair chance of being adopted

Since they’d like to implement the criteria, that they’d benefit from a model that is easy to understand. Conflictingly, the competition focuses on accuracy only. This tells us that they would benefit from having 2 models:

  • Complex focused on accuracy and less on explicability

  • Simplified focused on explicability

For this assignment, we will focus only in one of the two objectives.

Data

The company shared several data files. These files and their description can be found here.

‘data.frame’: 14993 obs. of 24 variables:

$ Type : int 2 2 1 1 1 2 2 1 2 2 … $ Name : Factor w/ 9061 levels “”,“‘’ Woody’‘;;“,..: 6093 6152 1593 5511 3811 1 1728 7656 1 4506 … $ Age : int 3 1 1 4 1 3 12 0 2 12 … $ Breed1 : int 299 265 307 307 307 266 264 307 265 265 … $ Breed2 : int 0 0 0 0 0 0 264 0 0 0 … $ Gender : int 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 … $ Color1 : int 1 1 2 1 1 5 1 1 6 1 … $ Color2 : int 7 2 7 2 0 6 0 2 0 7 … $ Color3 : int 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 … $ MaturitySize : int 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 … $ FurLength : int 1 2 2 1 1 1 3 1 2 2 … $ Vaccinated : int 2 3 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 … $ Dewormed : int 2 3 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 … $ Sterilized : int 2 3 2 2 2 2 3 2 2 3 … $ Health : int 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 … $ Quantity : int 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 1 1 … $ Fee : int 100 0 0 150 0 0 300 0 0 0 … $ State : int 41326 41401 41326 41401 41326 41326 41326 41326 41326 41326 … $ RescuerID : Factor w/ 5595 levels”0007e457eb0583479bb888d54764911f“,..: 2933 1114 5486 3233 3298 817 683 724 4747 711 … $ VideoAmt : int 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 … $ Description : Factor w/ 14033 levels”’Brownie’ was found on / trailing after a jogger near PJ Stadium and was nearly knocked over by a car. Accordin”| truncated,..: 8683 6129 11601 4231 12267 12300 1760 10758 4657 13390 … $ PetID : Factor w/ 14993 levels “0008c5398”,“000a290e4”,..: 7758 5717 3087 5149 7642 12297 1709 8793 11271 7041 … $ PhotoAmt : num 1 2 7 8 3 2 3 9 6 2 … $ AdoptionSpeed: int 2 0 3 2 2 2 1 3 1 4 …

Type Name Age Breed1 Breed2 Gender Color1 Color2 Color3 MaturitySize FurLength Vaccinated Dewormed Sterilized 1 2 Nibble 3 299 0 1 1 7 0 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 No Name Yet 1 265 0 1 1 2 0 2 2 3 3 3 3 1 Brisco 1 307 0 1 2 7 0 2 2 1 1 2 4 1 Miko 4 307 0 2 1 2 0 2 1 1 1 2 Health Quantity Fee State RescuerID VideoAmt 1 1 1 100 41326 8480853f516546f6cf33aa88cd76c379 0 2 1 1 0 41401 3082c7125d8fb66f7dd4bff4192c8b14 0 3 1 1 0 41326 fa90fa5b1ee11c86938398b60abc32cb 0 4 1 1 150 41401 9238e4f44c71a75282e62f7136c6b240 0 Description 1 Nibble is a 3+ month old ball of cuteness. He is energetic and playful. I rescued a couple of cats a few months ago but could not get them neutered in time as the clinic was fully scheduled. The result was this little kitty. I do not have enough space and funds to care for more cats in my household. Looking for responsible people to take over Nibble’s care. 2 I just found it alone yesterday near my apartment. It was shaking so I had to bring it home to provide temporary care. 3 Their pregnant mother was dumped by her irresponsible owner at the roadside near some shops in Subang Jaya. Gave birth to them at the roadside. They are all healthy and adorable puppies. Already dewormed, vaccinated and ready to go to a home. No tying or caging for long hours as guard dogs. However, it is acceptable to cage or tie for precautionary purposes. Interested to adopt pls call me. 4 Good guard dog, very alert, active, obedience waiting for her good master, plz call or sms for more details if you really get interested, thanks!! PetID PhotoAmt AdoptionSpeed 1 86e1089a3 1 2 2 6296e909a 2 0 3 3422e4906 7 3 4 5842f1ff5 8 2

  Type           Name Age Breed1 Breed2 Gender Color1 Color2 Color3 MaturitySize FurLength Vaccinated Dewormed

14990 2 Serato & Eddie 60 265 264 3 1 4 7 2 2 1 1 14991 2 Monkies 2 265 266 3 5 6 7 3 2 2 1 14992 2 Ms Daym 9 266 0 2 4 7 0 1 1 1 1 14993 1 Fili 1 307 307 1 2 0 0 2 1 2 2 Sterilized Health Quantity Fee State RescuerID VideoAmt 14990 1 1 2 0 41326 1d5096c4a5e159a3b750c5cfcf6ceabf 0 14991 3 1 5 30 41326 6f40a7acfad5cc0bb3e44591ea446c05 0 14992 1 1 1 0 41336 c311c0c569245baa147d91fa4e351ae4 0 14993 2 1 1 0 41332 9ed1d5493d223eaa5024c1a031dbc9c2 0 Description 14990 Serato(female cat- 3 color) is 4 years old and Eddie(male cat- white and cream) is 1 years plus. Both are toilet train and can’t be separated. Needs a loving home together. 14991 Mix breed, good temperament kittens. Love humans. Very friendly. 14992 she is very shy..adventures and independent..she just hates cages..but loves climbing trees and rooftops..however she is very loving. 14993 Fili just loves laying around and also loves being under the sun; Very laidback and quiet. PetID PhotoAmt AdoptionSpeed 14990 a01ab5b30 3 4 14991 d981b6395 5 3 14992 e4da1c9e4 3 4 14993 a83d95ead 1 3