Domains of competence of fuzzy rule based classification systems with data complexity measures: A case of study using a fuzzy hybrid genetic based machine learning method

The analysis of data complexity is a proper framework to characterize the tackled classification problem and to identify domains of competence of classifiers. As a practical outcome of this framework, the proposed data complexity measures may facilitate the choice of a classifier for a given problem. The aim of this paper is to study the behaviour of a fuzzy rule based classification system and its relationship to data complexity. We use as a case of study the fuzzy hybrid genetic based machine learning method presented in [H. Ishibuchi, T. Yamamoto, T. Nakashima, Hybridization of fuzzy GBML approaches for pattern classification problems, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics—Part B: Cybernetics 35 (2) (2005) 359–365]. We examine several metrics of data complexity over a wide range of data sets built from real data and try to extract behaviour patterns from the results. We obtain rules which describe both good or bad behaviours of the fuzzy rule based classification system. These rules use values of data complexity metrics in their antecedents, so we try to predict the behaviour of the method from the data set complexity metrics prior to its application. Therefore, we can establish the domains of competence of this fuzzy rule based classification system. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.