This research developed and tested a filter algorithm that serves to reduce the feature space in healthcare datasets. The algorithm binarizes the dataset, and then separately evaluates the risk ratio of each predictor with the response, and outputs ratios that represent the association between a predictor and the class attribute. The value of the association translates to the importance rank of the corresponding predictor in determining the outcome. Using Random Forest and Logistic regression classification, the performance of the developed algorithm was compared against the regsubsets and varImp functions, which are unsupervised methods of variable selection. Equally, the proposed algorithm was compared with the supervised Fisher score and Pearson’s correlation feature selection methods. Different datasets were used for the experiment, and, in the majority of the cases, the predictors selected by the new algorithm outperformed those selected by the existing algorithms. The proposed filter algorithm is therefore a reliable alternative for variable ranking in data mining classification tasks with a dichotomous response.

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This research mined the moderating role of organizational tenure (OrgTenure) in the association between psychological capital (PsyCap) and educational qualifications among tourism and hospitality employees. Previous research reported a crude odds ratio (OR) of 2.6 to represent the association between PsyCap and educational qualifications among a sample of 329 hospitality workers. Using the same experimental dataset, this study obtained stratum‐specific OR representing the association as 2.2 and 7.5 for shorter and longer tenure, respectively; establishing OrgTenure as an effect modifier. This implies that longer OrgTenure strengthens the association between PsyCap and educational qualifications more than shorter OrgTenure. This finding means that the tourism and hospitality industry should develop strategies aimed at retaining well‐educated and long‐tenured workers in the service of the industry.

Psychological capital (PsyCap) is a measure of the positive capabilities of an individual which consists of four components: hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism. In this study, the pattern of the effect of organizational tenure on the PsyCap of employees in the hospitality and tourism industry was mined. The PsyCap and length of service data of a sample of 329 employees working in some organizations related to hospitality and tourism were collected. The odds ratio was deployed to measure the pattern and strength of association and the findings showed that employees who stay longer years in an organization are 3.6 times more likely to exhibit high PsyCap than those who stay shorter periods. With the positive pattern of this association, it implies that indiscriminate retrenchment of long-serving employees should be avoided to preserve PsyCap within the industry.