# 3 Data Matrix

In the previous chapter we talked about the standard notion of data from the statistical learning perspective, that is, as a “set of individuals described by one or more variables”. In addition, we looked at various types of data tables, and we also discussed about the distinction between raw tables and clean tables. In this chapter, we make the transition from a data table to a data matrix. I will introduce some notation used in the rest of the book, and focus on how to think of a data table in terms of a matrix, and what aspects to keep in mind while converting any data table into a mathematical matrix.

First let’s talk about matrices in the mathematical sense of the word. A matrix is a rectangular array of elements. More formally, a matrix is a mathematical object whose structure is a rectangular array of entries.

Typically, we consider the elements of a matrix to be numbers. Although you can certainly generalize the contents of a matrix and think about them as any type of symbols, not necessarily numbers. This is perhaps a common way to conceive a generic matrix from a more computational-oriented perspective.

From example, an R matrix may be numeric, but you can also have matrices containing logical values (TRUE or FALSE), or even a matrix made up of characters.

# numeric matrix
A <- matrix(1:12, nrow = 4, ncol = 3)
A
[,1] [,2] [,3]
[1,]    1    5    9
[2,]    2    6   10
[3,]    3    7   11
[4,]    4    8   12
# logical matrix
L <- matrix(c(TRUE, FALSE), nrow = 4, ncol = 3)
L
[,1]  [,2]  [,3]
[1,]  TRUE  TRUE  TRUE
[2,] FALSE FALSE FALSE
[3,]  TRUE  TRUE  TRUE
[4,] FALSE FALSE FALSE
# character matrix
S <- matrix(sample(letters, 12), nrow = 4, ncol = 3)
S
[,1] [,2] [,3]
[1,] "h"  "y"  "t"
[2,] "c"  "m"  "u"
[3,] "n"  "a"  "d"
[4,] "l"  "z"  "i" 

## 3.2 Data Matrix

While the raw ingredient for any statistical learning endevour is a data set, typically reshaped and organized in a tabular form, the core input of any statistical learning method consists of the data matrix, or in some cases, matrices.

To make things less abstract I’m going to use the following toy data table with four variables measured on six individuals:

                 gender height weight     jedi
Anakin Skywalker   male   1.88   84.0 yes_jedi
Padme Amidala    female   1.65   45.0  no_jedi
Luke Skywalker     male   1.72   77.0 yes_jedi
Leia Organa      female   1.50   49.0  no_jedi
Qui-Gon Jinn       male   1.93   88.5 yes_jedi
Obi-Wan Kenobi     male   1.82   77.0 yes_jedi

You can actually find the corresponding CSV file in the data/ folder of the book’s github repository.

### 3.2.1 Why a data matrix?

The reason to use matrices is simple: the typical structure in which the data can be mathematically manipulated from a multivariate standpoint is a data matrix. No other mathematical object adapts so well to the rectangular structure of a data table.

Since we are getting into more formal mathematical territory, we need to define some terminology and notation that we’ll use in the rest of the book.

We’re going to represent matrices with bold upper-case letters like $$\mathbf{A}$$ or $$\mathbf{B}$$.

In general, a matrix $$\mathbf{X}$$ has $$n$$ rows and $$p$$ columns, and we say that $$\mathbf{X}$$ is an $$n \times p$$ matrix. In addition, we are going to assume that all the matrices are real matrices, that is, matrices containing elements in the set of Real numbers.

$\underset{n \times p}{\mathbf{X}} = \left[\begin{array}{ccccc} x_{11} & \cdots & x_{1j} & \cdots & x_{1p} \\ \vdots & & \vdots & & \vdots \\ x_{i1} & \cdots & x_{ij} & \cdots & x_{ip} \\ \vdots & & \vdots & & \vdots \\ x_{n1} & \cdots & x_{nj} & \cdots & x_{np} \\ \end{array}\right]$

An element of a matrix $$\mathbf{X}$$ is denoted by $$x_{ij}$$ which represents the element in the $$i$$-th row and the $$j$$-th column. For instance, the element $$x_{23}$$ in our toy $$6 \times 4$$ data matrix has the value 45 and it represents the weight of Padme Amidala.

Together with matrices we also have variables, and vectors. We are going to represent variables with italized capital letters such as $$Y$$ and $$Z$$. Also, variables in a matrix $$\mathbf{X}$$ can be represented with subscripts such as $$X_j$$ to indicate the column-index position. The first three variables in our matrix $$\mathbf{X}$$ would be represented as $$X_1$$ (gender), $$X_2$$ (height), and $$X_3$$ (weight).

Vectors will be represented by bold lower case letters such as $$\mathbf{w}$$ or $$\mathbf{u}$$. A vector $$\mathbf{w}$$ with $$m$$ elements can be expressed as $$\mathbf{w} = (w_1, w_2, \dots, w_m)$$. Since variables can be expressed as vectors, we can use the vector notation $$\mathbf{x}$$ to represent a variable $$X$$. However, keep in mind that not all vectors are variables: a vector may well refer to an object or to any row of a matrix.

### 3.2.2 Matrix Representations

You will that find people represent matrices in multiple ways, using various notations, symbols, and diagrams.

We can represent a data matrix $$\mathbf{X}$$ by simply regarding the table from its columns (i.e. variables) perspective:

$\mathbf{X} = \left[\begin{array}{c|c|c|c|c|c} & & & & & \\ \mathbf{x}_{1} & \mathbf{x}_{2} & \cdots & \mathbf{x}_{j} & \cdots & \mathbf{x}_{p} \\ & & & & & \\ \end{array}\right]$

Note that each variable $$X_j$$ is represented with a column vector $$\mathbf{x}_{j}$$. In turn, the vertical lines are just a visual cue indicating separation between columns. Taking our toy data data matrix, we could represent it as:

$\mathbf{Data} = \left[\begin{array}{c|c|c|c} & & & \\ \texttt{gender} & \texttt{height} & \texttt{weight} & \texttt{jedi} \\ & & & \\ \end{array}\right]$

Being more minimalists, we can even get a more compact representation by just expressing a matrix $$\mathbf{X}$$ as a list or sequence of its variables:

$\mathbf{X} = \left[\begin{array}{cccccc} \mathbf{x}_{1} & \mathbf{x}_{2} & \cdots & \mathbf{x}_{j} & \cdots & \mathbf{x}_{p} \\ \end{array}\right]$

### 3.2.3 A Block of Variables

While most of us are used to think of multivariate data in terms of a table or matrix, there can be other interesting representation options. If you are a visual person like me, we can also use an alternative way to display the variables using a standard convention of drawing them in rectangular shape. In this way, we can depict a set of variables in a data matrix as a series of rectangles, like those below inside the dashed box:

The rectangular-box shape perfectly illustrates the idea of a block of variables. I will use the term block to convey the idea of a group or set of variables measured on a set of objects. If you prefer, you can also think of a block as a data table.

## 3.3 Types of Matrices

There are various kinds of matrices which are commonly used in statistical learning methods. Let’s briefly revisit some of them.

### 3.3.1 General Rectangular Matrix

The most general type of matrix is a rectangular matrix. This means that there is an arbitrary number of $$n$$ rows and $$p$$ columns.

$\left[\begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 2 & 3 \\ 4 & 5 & 6 \\ 7 & 8 & 9 \\ 10 & 11 & 12 \\ \end{array}\right]$

If a matrix has more rows than columns $$n > p$$, sometimes we call this a vertical or tall matrix:

$\left[\begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 2 & 3 \\ 4 & 5 & 6 \\ 7 & 8 & 9 \\ 10 & 11 & 12 \\ 13 & 14 & 15 \\ \end{array}\right]$

In contrast, if a matrix has more columns than rows, $$p > n$$, sometimes we call this a horizontal, flat or wide matrix:

$\left[\begin{array}{cccc} 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 \\ 6 & 7 & 8 & 9 & 10 \\ 11 & 12 & 13 & 14 & 15 \\ \end{array}\right]$

### 3.3.2 Square Matrix

A square matrix is one with same number of rows and columns, $$n = p$$. In statiscal learning, various matrices derived from a data matrix are typically square, this typically happens when working with derived cross-products such as $$\mathbf{X^\mathsf{T} X}$$ or $$\mathbf{X X^\mathsf{T}}$$.

$\left[\begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 2 & 3 \\ 4 & 5 & 6 \\ 7 & 8 & 9 \\ \end{array}\right]$

### 3.3.3 Symmetric Matrix

A symmetric matrix is a special case of a square matrix: the corresponding elements of corresponding rows and columns are equal. In other words, in a symmetric matrix we have that the element $$x_{ij}$$ is equal to $$x_{ji}$$.

$\left[\begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 2 & 3 \\ 2 & 4 & 5 \\ 3 & 5 & 6 \\ \end{array}\right]$

### 3.3.4 Diagonal Matrix

A diagonal matrix is a special case of symmetric matrix in which all nondiagonal elements are 0.

$\left[\begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 2 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 3 \\ \end{array}\right]$

In other words, in a symmetric matrix, $$x_{ij} = 0$$ for $$i \neq j$$. The only elements that may not necessarily be qual to zero are those in the diagonal.

$\left[\begin{array}{ccc} x_{11} & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & x_{22} & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & x_{33} \\ \end{array}\right]$

### 3.3.5 Scalar Matrix

The scalar matrix is a special type of diagonal matrix in which all the diagonal elements are equal scalars.

$\left[\begin{array}{ccc} 5 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 5 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 5 \\ \end{array}\right]$

### 3.3.6 Identity Matrix

The identity matrix is a special case of the scalar matrix in which the diagonal elements are all equal to one. This matrix is typically represented with the letter $$\mathbf{I}$$. To indicate the dimensions of this matrix, we typically write it with a subscript for the number of rows (or columns). For example, $$\mathbf{I}_{n}$$ represents the identity matrix of dimension $$n \times n$$.

$\mathbf{I}_{3} = \left[\begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 1 \\ \end{array}\right]$

In matrix algebra, the identity matrix plays the same role as the number 1 in ordinary or scalar algebra.

### 3.3.7 Triangular Matrix

A square matrix with only 0’s above or below the diagonal is called a triangular matrix. There are two flavors of this type of matrix: upper triangular and lower triangular.

An upper triangular matrix has zeros below the diagonal.

$\left[\begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 2 & 3 \\ 0 & 5 & 6 \\ 0 & 0 & 9 \\ \end{array}\right] \quad \textsf{or} \quad \left[\begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 2 & 3 \\ & 5 & 6 \\ & & 9 \\ \end{array}\right]$

Conversely, a lower triangular matrix has zeros above the diagonal.

$\left[\begin{array}{ccc} 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 4 & 5 & 0 \\ 7 & 8 & 9 \\ \end{array}\right] \quad \textsf{or} \quad \left[\begin{array}{ccc} 1 & & \\ 4 & 5 & \\ 7 & 8 & 9 \\ \end{array}\right]$

### 3.3.8 Shapes of Matrices

To summarize the various types of matrices described so far, here’s a diagram depicting their shapes. The general type of matrix is a rectangular matrix which can be divided in three types: vertical or tall ($$n > p$$), square ($$n = p$$), and horizontal or wide ($$n < p$$). Among square matrices, the notion of symmetry plays a special role, and among symmetric matrices, we can say that diagonal ones have the most basic structure.