2. Cross Validation Cross validation is a method for estimating the true error of a model. When a model is built from training data, the error on the training data is a rather optimistic estimate of the error rates the model will achieve on unseen data.
3. Cross Validation The aim of building a model is usually to apply the model to new, unseen data--we expect the model to generalize to data other than the training data on which it was built. Thus, we would like to have some method for better approximating the error that might occur in general. Cross validation provides such a method.
4. Cross Validation Cross validation is also used to evaluate a model in deciding which algorithm to deploy for learning, when choosing from amongst a number of learning algorithms. It can also provide a guide as to the effect of parameter tuning in building a model from a specific algorithm.