Dependent binary relevance models for multi-label classification

Abstract

Several meta-learning techniques for multi-label classification (MLC), such as chaining and stacking, have already been proposed in the literature, mostly aimed at improving predictive accuracy through the exploitation of label dependencies. In this paper, we propose another technique of that kind, called dependent binary relevance (DBR) learning. DBR combines properties of both, chaining and stacking. We provide a careful analysis of the relationship between these and other techniques, specifically focusing on the underlying dependency structure and the type of training data used for model construction. Moreover, we offer an extensive empirical evaluation, in which we compare different techniques on MLC benchmark data. Our experiments provide evidence for the good performance of DBR in terms of several evaluation measures that are commonly used in MLC.