AI engineering glossary · Feature engineering data prep

What is constant imputation?

Constant imputation: Filling missing values with a fixed chosen value, such as 0, -1 or the label 'Missing'. It makes missingness explicit for tree models and categorical features, though a poorly chosen constant can mislead linear models.

Level: beginnerTopic: Feature engineering data prep

Constant imputation: an example

Missing 'previous_loans' is set to 0, and a missing 'occupation' is set to the category 'Unknown'.

Related terms

More Feature engineering data prep terms

Where you learn it

Constant imputation is part of the AI Engineering Program, which teaches it with notes, a hands-on lab and an exam. The first lesson is free.

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