When you get data, it is important to understand how it was collected, what it means, and whether what you are measuring actually matters. This talk will highlight some real world data questions to help you think about the story underneath the data.
Why Have Side Projects? Whenever I am asked the best ways to learn data science, I always encourage folks to find a problem to solve that is interesting and unrelated to work. In other words, a side project.
The rationale for this advice is simple: learning new tech skills is difficult. Therefore, you should tackle problems that bring as much joy as possible while also avoiding email entanglements or late-night Slack boondoggles.
Introduction When I was a grad student in Nashville, my office just happened to be in the student health center. The shortest path between my apartment and my office was walking through lobby of the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. I made this walk nearly every day and routinely saw young kids with all manner of ailments.
Then, later in the day, I would inevitably be in some meeting about something that was comparatively unimportant.