https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Programming/PROC-SMOTESAMPLE/m-p/972980#M377620 <P>Hi,</P> <P>I'm currently using the smotesample action in SAS and encountering two unusual issues:</P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <OL> <LI> <P><STRONG>Unexpected Categorical Values</STRONG>:<BR />Some of the newly generated categorical variables—are returning large negative values (e.g., -1000000) that do not exist in the original dataset. Could you clarify why this might happen? Specifically, how does SMOTE handle categorical features, and is there a recommended approach to ensure realistic synthetic values?</P> </LI> <LI> <P><STRONG>Amplification of Placeholder Values</STRONG>:<BR />My dataset uses placeholder values like -1 or -2 to represent missing data. After applying SMOTE, these placeholders seem to become more dominant in the sampled data. Is there a way to prevent SMOTE from oversampling these values or to exclude them from the interpolation process?</P> </LI> </OL> <P>Any guidance or best practices would be greatly appreciated.</P> Wed, 20 Aug 2025 14:16:08 GMT phopkinson 2025-08-20T14:16:08Z https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Programming/PROC-SMOTESAMPLE/m-p/972980#M377620 <P>Hi,</P> <P>I'm currently using the smotesample action in SAS and encountering two unusual issues:</P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <OL> <LI> <P><STRONG>Unexpected Categorical Values</STRONG>:<BR />Some of the newly generated categorical variables—are returning large negative values (e.g., -1000000) that do not exist in the original dataset. Could you clarify why this might happen? Specifically, how does SMOTE handle categorical features, and is there a recommended approach to ensure realistic synthetic values?</P> </LI> <LI> <P><STRONG>Amplification of Placeholder Values</STRONG>:<BR />My dataset uses placeholder values like -1 or -2 to represent missing data. After applying SMOTE, these placeholders seem to become more dominant in the sampled data. Is there a way to prevent SMOTE from oversampling these values or to exclude them from the interpolation process?</P> </LI> </OL> <P>Any guidance or best practices would be greatly appreciated.</P> Wed, 20 Aug 2025 14:16:08 GMT https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Programming/PROC-SMOTESAMPLE/m-p/972980#M377620 phopkinson 2025-08-20T14:16:08Z https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Programming/PROC-SMOTESAMPLE/m-p/972983#M377622 <P>Please include your SAS log that shows the code you are running and any messages you are getting. If you can provide sample data that would also be helpful.</P> Wed, 20 Aug 2025 15:36:57 GMT https://communities.sas.com/t5/SAS-Programming/PROC-SMOTESAMPLE/m-p/972983#M377622 Kathryn_SAS 2025-08-20T15:36:57Z