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MLA-C01 Practice Question: A data scientist is training a binary…

A data scientist is training a binary classification model using a dataset that has a severe class imbalance (90% negative, 10% positive). Which technique should be used to address the imbalance during model training?

⚠ Common exam trap

AWS often tests the misconception that hyperparameter tuning (like batch size or learning rate) can fix data imbalance, when in fact only data-level or algorithm-level techniques (e.g., oversampling, undersampling, or cost-sensitive learning) directly address the skewed class distribution.

Answer choices

Why each option matters

Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.

Correct answer & explanation

Apply random oversampling of the minority class

Random oversampling of the minority class (Option C) directly addresses class imbalance by duplicating or synthesizing examples from the positive class, which balances the training distribution and prevents the model from becoming biased toward the majority class. This technique is specifically designed to mitigate the skewed gradient updates that occur when the minority class is underrepresented, leading to better recall and precision for the positive class in binary classification tasks.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

  • Use a larger batch size

    Why it's wrong here

    Larger batch size does not address class imbalance; it may even exacerbate it by providing fewer minority examples per batch.

  • Use L2 regularization

    Why it's wrong here

    L2 regularization prevents overfitting but does not address class imbalance.

  • Apply random oversampling of the minority class

    Why this is correct

    Random oversampling balances the class distribution by replicating minority class samples.

  • Increase the learning rate

    Why it's wrong here

    Increasing learning rate can affect convergence but does not correct class imbalance.

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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026

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