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ENH: Rename get_dummies to more inclusive language #48250

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@davidcavazos

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@davidcavazos

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  • Adding new functionality to pandas

  • Changing existing functionality in pandas

  • Removing existing functionality in pandas

Problem Description

The word "dummy" from the pd.get_dummies function can be offensive to some people and should be renamed.

It's marked as a word that should not be used by Google's inclusive language word list.

Feature Description

A good alternative name could be renaming it to pd.get_indicator_variables, which would also be more explicit on what it does.

Alternative Solutions

Alternatively, pd.get_one_hot or pd.get_one_hot_encoded could also be an option familiar to Machine Learning practitioners.

Google trends show "indicator variable" and "one-hot encoding" to be similarly popular, with "indicator variable" being slightly more popular.

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