1.1 What is statistical learning?

Statistical learning is the theoretical foundation for machine learning framework. It makes connections between the fields of statistics and functional analysis.

In particular, the Statistical learning theory deals with the problem of finding a predictive function based on data and this is what is best known as supervised learning, in this book we will see more than just theory, as we will deal with unsupervised learning as well as making practical applications.

• Supervised: “Building a model to predict an output from inputs.”
  • Predict wage from age, education, and year.
  • Predict market direction from previous days' performance.
• Unsupervised: Inputs but no specific outputs, find relationships and structure.
  • Identify clusters within cancer cell lines.