What method would primarily be used for reducing the dimensionality of a categorical dataset?

The method that would primarily be used for reducing the dimensionality of a categorical dataset is feature extraction. This process involves transforming the input data into a lower-dimensional space while retaining the essential characteristics necessary for analysis or model training. In the context of categorical data, feature extraction can help simplify the relationships within the data, making it more manageable and efficient for further analysis.

Although different techniques exist for handling categorical data, such as encoding, normalization, and binarization, they serve different purposes. Encoding is primarily aimed at converting categorical variables into numerical formats, which is necessary for most machine learning algorithms but does not inherently reduce dimensionality. Normalization adjusts the scale of numerical data without addressing the dimensionality of categorical data. Binarization involves converting data into binary format, typically for continuous variables or certain types of data representation, rather than focusing specifically on categorical datasets. Therefore, feature extraction stands out as the most applicable method for reducing dimensionality in this scenario.