An Exploratory Technique for Investigating Large Quantities of Categorical Data

Abstract

SUMMARY The technique set out in the paper, CHAID, is an offshoot of AID (Automatic Interaction Detection) designed for a categorized dependent variable. Some important modifications which are relevant to standard AID include: built-in significance testing with the consequence of using the most significant predictor (rather than the most explanatory), multi-way splits (in contrast to binary) and a new type of predictor which is especially useful in handling missing information.