The importance of data is paramount. As Prof. Galey alluded to, despite our intuition that something is happening a certain way due to a hypothesized underlying cause or pattern, the numbers (data) often surprise us and reveal a different story. A number of industries have embraced the concept of data-driven decisions. especially in the world of high-tech (Google, Facebook being prominent examples; Google even uses heavy analytics to make HR decisions - evaluating performance and diagnosing other management issues [1]).
Yet there a still a slew of organizations and trades (that are more traditional and less radical in their workflow) that would benefit from incorporating data analytics and metrics into their everyday. There is some interesting literature on employing 'big data' in these fields including a study [2] describing an effective tool for the use of classroom/student data by teachers in order to reflect on and better their teaching process, communication and pedagogical models being used.
Finally data visualization convey relationships and trends in ways that are engaging and fun but also easier to grasp. They add clarity to one's understanding and can trigger new and unexpected insights.
Thought I'd link to a few sweet big data articles/ data visualizations.
http://www.quora.com/Big-Data/What-is-the-meaning-of-big-data-What-kind-of-things-we-can-do-by-using-the-big-data-in-the-daily-life
http://www.quora.com/Data-Visualization/What-are-the-best-data-visualizations-ever-created
http://www.tableausoftware.com/top-5-most-influential-data-visualizations
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/31/business/20080801-metrics-graphic.html?_r=0
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/million-lines-of-code/
http://blog.stephenwolfram.com/2012/03/the-personal-analytics-of-my-life/
^Stephen Wolfram's immersion into the analytics of his own personal behaviour is a fascinating read (and expectedly, often way over my head).
REFERENCES:
[1] Analytics at Google: Great Example of Data-Driven Decision-Making:
http://smartdatacollective.com/bernardmarr/85871/analytics-google-great-example-data-driven-decision-making
Yet there a still a slew of organizations and trades (that are more traditional and less radical in their workflow) that would benefit from incorporating data analytics and metrics into their everyday. There is some interesting literature on employing 'big data' in these fields including a study [2] describing an effective tool for the use of classroom/student data by teachers in order to reflect on and better their teaching process, communication and pedagogical models being used.
Finally data visualization convey relationships and trends in ways that are engaging and fun but also easier to grasp. They add clarity to one's understanding and can trigger new and unexpected insights.
Thought I'd link to a few sweet big data articles/ data visualizations.
http://www.quora.com/Big-Data/What-is-the-meaning-of-big-data-What-kind-of-things-we-can-do-by-using-the-big-data-in-the-daily-life
http://www.quora.com/Data-Visualization/What-are-the-best-data-visualizations-ever-created
http://www.tableausoftware.com/top-5-most-influential-data-visualizations
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/31/business/20080801-metrics-graphic.html?_r=0
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/million-lines-of-code/
http://blog.stephenwolfram.com/2012/03/the-personal-analytics-of-my-life/
^Stephen Wolfram's immersion into the analytics of his own personal behaviour is a fascinating read (and expectedly, often way over my head).
REFERENCES:
[1] Analytics at Google: Great Example of Data-Driven Decision-Making:
http://smartdatacollective.com/bernardmarr/85871/analytics-google-great-example-data-driven-decision-making
[2] Schifter, C., Natarajan, U., Ketelhut, D. J., Carey, M., & Ryu, M. (2013, March). Data Driven Decision Making: Facilitating teachers’ use of Student Data to change classroom instruction. In Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (Vol. 2013, No. 1, pp. 2945-2950).
Thank you for your post, Akash. As someone who works with data, I found your post intriguing. I've worked with StatCan data part-time for the past 3 years, and I know my niche well. I also have some experience with research data platforms (i.e. Dataverse), and limited experience with business data.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I have no familiarity with Big Data. I work with small data; research data.
I'd be interested to explore the different usefulness of big vs. small (research) data. While the prevailing view is that big data is for business, I can imagine its potential value in all kinds of scholarly research. Similarly, research data is good for businesses. Food for thought!