Feature selection in supervised machine learning: a case study of poverty dataset in West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

West Java, one of the largest provinces in Indonesia with a population exceeding 50 million, reported a poverty rate of 7.62% in 2023. Data from the national socio-economic survey or survei sosial ekonomi nasional (SUSENAS) show that poverty is multidimensional, encompassing aspects of employment, education, sanitation, housing, food security, technology, and government assistance. Addressing this complexity requires identifying the most influential factors that determine household welfare. This study applies and compares three feature selection approaches—filter, wrapper, and embedded—to the SUSENAS dataset to evaluate their effectiveness in identifying key poverty determinants. By prioritizing variables with the strongest predictive power, the study provides an evidence-based framework for more efficient and targeted poverty alleviation strategies. Results indicate that the information filter method combined with random forest (RF) and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) embedded method combined with logistic regression (LR) deliver the best performance, improving model accuracy while reducing more than 65% of irrelevant features. The selected indicators highlight critical sectors such as food security, housing, and access to technology, which can serve as short-term policy priorities. In the long term, broader interventions in education, employment, sanitation, and government support are recommended. These findings demonstrate how data-driven feature selection can guide effective policy design for reducing poverty in West Java.