ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Semiparametric model

A semiparametric model is like playing dress-up. You know what you want to be, but you don't need to put on a full costume to show it.

Imagine you want to dress up as a superhero. You know you want to wear the superhero symbol and maybe a cape, but you don't need to totally transform your body to become a hero. You can just add a few hero-like accessories to your regular clothes.

In a semiparametric model, you only need to add a few special things to your regular data analysis tools to get the job done. You don't need to use a totally different method like you might for a full costume change. You just add a little something extra to help you get better results.

This is useful when you're working with data and trying to make predictions or understand relationships between different pieces of information. By using a semiparametric model, you're able to get more accurate results without making a big change to the way you're analyzing the data.