Download or read book Making Sense of Data written by Glenn J. Myatt and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2007-02-26 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A practical, step-by-step approach to making sense out of data Making Sense of Data educates readers on the steps and issues that need to be considered in order to successfully complete a data analysis or data mining project. The author provides clear explanations that guide the reader to make timely and accurate decisions from data in almost every field of study. A step-by-step approach aids professionals in carefully analyzing data and implementing results, leading to the development of smarter business decisions. With a comprehensive collection of methods from both data analysis and data mining disciplines, this book successfully describes the issues that need to be considered, the steps that need to be taken, and appropriately treats technical topics to accomplish effective decision making from data. Readers are given a solid foundation in the procedures associated with complex data analysis or data mining projects and are provided with concrete discussions of the most universal tasks and technical solutions related to the analysis of data, including: * Problem definitions * Data preparation * Data visualization * Data mining * Statistics * Grouping methods * Predictive modeling * Deployment issues and applications Throughout the book, the author examines why these multiple approaches are needed and how these methods will solve different problems. Processes, along with methods, are carefully and meticulously outlined for use in any data analysis or data mining project. From summarizing and interpreting data, to identifying non-trivial facts, patterns, and relationships in the data, to making predictions from the data, Making Sense of Data addresses the many issues that need to be considered as well as the steps that need to be taken to master data analysis and mining.

Download or read book Visual Insights written by Katy Borner and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2014-01-24 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide to the basics of information visualization that teaches nonprogrammers how to use advanced data mining and visualization techniques to design insightful visualizations. In the age of Big Data, the tools of information visualization offer us a macroscope to help us make sense of the avalanche of data available on every subject. This book offers a gentle introduction to the design of insightful information visualizations. It is the only book on the subject that teaches nonprogrammers how to use open code and open data to design insightful visualizations. Readers will learn to apply advanced data mining and visualization techniques to make sense of temporal, geospatial, topical, and network data. The book, developed for use in an information visualization MOOC, covers data analysis algorithms that enable extraction of patterns and trends in data, with chapters devoted to “when” (temporal data), “where” (geospatial data), “what” (topical data), and “with whom” (networks and trees); and to systems that drive research and development. Examples of projects undertaken for clients include an interactive visualization of the success of game player activity in World of Warcraft; a visualization of 311 number adoption that shows the diffusion of non-emergency calls in the United States; a return on investment study for two decades of HIV/AIDS research funding by NIAID; and a map showing the impact of the HiveNYC Learning Network. Visual Insights will be an essential resource on basic information visualization techniques for scholars in many fields, students, designers, or anyone who works with data.

Download or read book Making Sense of Data I written by Glenn J. Myatt and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2014-08-11 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Praise for the First Edition “...a well-written book on data analysis and data mining that provides an excellent foundation...” —CHOICE “This is a must-read book for learning practical statistics and data analysis...” —Computing Reviews.com A proven go-to guide for data analysis, Making Sense of Data I: A Practical Guide to Exploratory Data Analysis and Data Mining, Second Edition focuses on basic data analysis approaches that are necessary to make timely and accurate decisions in a diverse range of projects. Based on the authors’ practical experience in implementing data analysis and data mining, the new edition provides clear explanations that guide readers from almost every field of study. In order to facilitate the needed steps when handling a data analysis or data mining project, a step-by-step approach aids professionals in carefully analyzing data and implementing results, leading to the development of smarter business decisions. The tools to summarize and interpret data in order to master data analysis are integrated throughout, and the Second Edition also features: Updated exercises for both manual and computer-aided implementation with accompanying worked examples New appendices with coverage on the freely available TraceisTM software, including tutorials using data from a variety of disciplines such as the social sciences, engineering, and finance New topical coverage on multiple linear regression and logistic regression to provide a range of widely used and transparent approaches Additional real-world examples of data preparation to establish a practical background for making decisions from data Making Sense of Data I: A Practical Guide to Exploratory Data Analysis and Data Mining, Second Edition is an excellent reference for researchers and professionals who need to achieve effective decision making from data. The Second Edition is also an ideal textbook for undergraduate and graduate-level courses in data analysis and data mining and is appropriate for cross-disciplinary courses found within computer science and engineering departments.

Download or read book Making Sense of Data II written by Glenn J. Myatt and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-02-03 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A hands-on guide to making valuable decisions from data using advanced data mining methods and techniques This second installment in the Making Sense of Data series continues to explore a diverse range of commonly used approaches to making and communicating decisions from data. Delving into more technical topics, this book equips readers with advanced data mining methods that are needed to successfully translate raw data into smart decisions across various fields of research including business, engineering, finance, and the social sciences. Following a comprehensive introduction that details how to define a problem, perform an analysis, and deploy the results, Making Sense of Data II addresses the following key techniques for advanced data analysis: Data Visualization reviews principles and methods for understanding and communicating data through the use of visualization including single variables, the relationship between two or more variables, groupings in data, and dynamic approaches to interacting with data through graphical user interfaces. Clustering outlines common approaches to clustering data sets and provides detailed explanations of methods for determining the distance between observations and procedures for clustering observations. Agglomerative hierarchical clustering, partitioned-based clustering, and fuzzy clustering are also discussed. Predictive Analytics presents a discussion on how to build and assess models, along with a series of predictive analytics that can be used in a variety of situations including principal component analysis, multiple linear regression, discriminate analysis, logistic regression, and Naïve Bayes. Applications demonstrates the current uses of data mining across a wide range of industries and features case studies that illustrate the related applications in real-world scenarios. Each method is discussed within the context of a data mining process including defining the problem and deploying the results, and readers are provided with guidance on when and how each method should be used. The related Web site for the series (www.makingsenseofdata.com) provides a hands-on data analysis and data mining experience. Readers wishing to gain more practical experience will benefit from the tutorial section of the book in conjunction with the TraceisTM software, which is freely available online. With its comprehensive collection of advanced data mining methods coupled with tutorials for applications in a range of fields, Making Sense of Data II is an indispensable book for courses on data analysis and data mining at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It also serves as a valuable reference for researchers and professionals who are interested in learning how to accomplish effective decision making from data and understanding if data analysis and data mining methods could help their organization.

Download or read book Getting Started with Data Science written by Murtaza Haider and published by IBM Press. This book was released on 2015-12-14 with total page 942 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Master Data Analytics Hands-On by Solving Fascinating Problems You’ll Actually Enjoy! Harvard Business Review recently called data science “The Sexiest Job of the 21st Century.” It’s not just sexy: For millions of managers, analysts, and students who need to solve real business problems, it’s indispensable. Unfortunately, there’s been nothing easy about learning data science–until now. Getting Started with Data Science takes its inspiration from worldwide best-sellers like Freakonomics and Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: It teaches through a powerful narrative packed with unforgettable stories. Murtaza Haider offers informative, jargon-free coverage of basic theory and technique, backed with plenty of vivid examples and hands-on practice opportunities. Everything’s software and platform agnostic, so you can learn data science whether you work with R, Stata, SPSS, or SAS. Best of all, Haider teaches a crucial skillset most data science books ignore: how to tell powerful stories using graphics and tables. Every chapter is built around real research challenges, so you’ll always know why you’re doing what you’re doing. You’ll master data science by answering fascinating questions, such as: • Are religious individuals more or less likely to have extramarital affairs? • Do attractive professors get better teaching evaluations? • Does the higher price of cigarettes deter smoking? • What determines housing prices more: lot size or the number of bedrooms? • How do teenagers and older people differ in the way they use social media? • Who is more likely to use online dating services? • Why do some purchase iPhones and others Blackberry devices? • Does the presence of children influence a family’s spending on alcohol? For each problem, you’ll walk through defining your question and the answers you’ll need; exploring how others have approached similar challenges; selecting your data and methods; generating your statistics; organizing your report; and telling your story. Throughout, the focus is squarely on what matters most: transforming data into insights that are clear, accurate, and can be acted upon.

Download or read book Making Sense of Data and Statistics in Psychology written by Gerry Mulhern and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-09-09 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Statistics is one of the most useful elements of any psychology degree. This popular textbook will equip you with the tools needed not only to make sense of your own data and research, but also to think critically about the research and statistics you will encounter in everyday life. Features include: - Logical, intuitive organization of key statistical concepts and tests with an emphasis on understanding which test to use and why - Innovative graphic illustrations and insightful dialogues that help you to get to grips with statistics - Concise, easy-to-follow guidelines for making sense of SPSS - COverage of more complex tests and concepts for when you need to dig deeper Making Sense of Data and Statistics in Psychology will help you design experiments, analyse data with confidence and establish a solid grounding in statistics; it will become a valuable resource throughout your studies. Companion Site: www.palgrave.com/psychology/mulhern2e An innovative and easy-to-read introduction to understanding statistical concepts and data in Psychology, written with even the most maths-averse Psychology student in mind. Authored by the current president of the BPS (British Psychological Society), this second edition includes guidance for SPSS and extended statistical coverage to bridge the gap between conceptual understanding of data and how to run statistical tests. Confronts the challenge of teaching statistics The material is structured so that the reader revisits ideas at increasing levels of sophistication, building on their existing knowledge in order to develop their understanding of statistics. This book, grounded in the authors' research into the way students learn maths and statistics, provides a 'way in' to statistics for all Psychology undergraduates, from those who have studied Maths to A Level to those who find their statistics courses to be the most daunting of their university years. The authors emphasise the importance of developing a 'feel' for data, particularly through visual representation, before statistical tests are discussed in detail. Making extensive use of exploratory data analysis, the text emphasises conceptual understanding. Concepts are introduced and clearly explained, enabling the student to understand the foundations of data analysis in interpreting psychological research. There is an abundant use of examples from psychological research throughout, helping students to get to grips with different forms of data. Flexible approach Can easily be integrated into 'standard courses', but also used to support more mathematicallyorientated courses. Reinforces understanding Avoids the jargon that makes statistics so inaccessible to many Psychology students. Pedagogical features include Socratic dialogues between statisticsaverse students and their lecturers; 'Making Links' boxes to help students see the connections between basic and more complex tests; and innovative comprehension check boxes which encourage students to stop and think before reading on. A new feature, 'Making sense of SPSS', links this conceptual comprehension to the way students mostly carry out their statistical tests. Making Sense of Data and Statistics in Psychology ensures that students have a firm basis in the use of statistics that will serve them for life, not just for the duration of their statistics course.

Download or read book Making Sense of Mathematics for Teaching Grades 6 8 written by Edward C. Nolan and published by Solution Tree Press. This book was released on 2016-04-13 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Develop a deep understanding of mathematics. This user-friendly resource presents grades 6–8 teachers with a logical progression of pedagogical actions, classroom norms, and collaborative teacher team efforts to increase their knowledge and improve mathematics instruction. Make connections between elementary fraction-based content to fraction operations taught in the middle grades. Explore strategies and techniques to effectively learn and teach significant mathematics concepts and provide all students with the precise, accurate information they need to achieve academic success. Benefits Dig deep into mathematical modeling and reasoning to improve as both a learner and teacher of mathematics. Explore how to develop, select, and modify mathematics tasks in order to balance cognitive demand and engage students. Discover the three important norms to uphold in all mathematics classrooms. Learn to apply the tasks, questioning, and evidence (TQE) process to grow as both learners and teachers of mathematics. Gain clarity about the most productive progression of mathematical teaching and learning for grades 6–8. Access short videos that show what classrooms that are developing mathematical understanding should look like. Contents Introduction 1 Fraction Operations and Integer Concepts and Operations 2 Ratios and Proportional Relationships 3 Equations, Expressions, and Inequalities 4 Functions 5 Measurement and Geometry 6 Statistics and Probability Epilogue: Next Steps References and Resources Index

Download or read book Making Sense of Data and Information written by Elearn and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-06-17 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Managers need to be able to make sense of data and to use it selectively to answer key questions: Why has quality fallen in the last week? Should we subcontract or employ more people? What will consumer demand be in the future? They need to be able to assess the value of data and to detect what is and what isn’t spin. The focus is on analysing numbers. On their own, figures tell us very little. To become meaningful they need to be processed and analysed and it is the patterns that emerge from this that provide the information that is needed for decision-making. The book is arranged in four themes. It starts by considering the value of information in organisations and by assessing how effectively the information is used in a management role. It then goes on to look at different options for presenting figures so that trends become clearer and patterns simpler to spot. As well as making data easier to interpret, the techniques the book presents are valuable communication tools that will help the reader use information more effectively with others. The last two themes then provide a toolkit of techniques that you can use to investigate situations and help solve problems. These include statistical and operational techniques as well as computer tools. Like any toolkit, the key to using it properly lies in knowing not only what each tool does but when to use it. This book will help the reader to develop this ability by applying the methods that are described within a business context.

Download or read book Making Sense of Mathematics for Teaching High School written by Edward C. Nolan and published by Solution Tree Press. This book was released on 2016-05-19 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Develop a deep understanding of mathematics by grasping the context and purpose behind various strategies. This user-friendly resource presents high school teachers with a logical progression of pedagogical actions, classroom norms, and collaborative teacher team efforts to increase their knowledge and improve mathematics instruction. Explore strategies and techniques to effectively learn and teach significant mathematics concepts and provide all students with the precise, accurate information they need to achieve academic success. Combine student understanding of functions and algebraic concepts so that they can better decipher the world. Benefits Dig deep into mathematical modeling and reasoning to improve as both a learner and teacher of mathematics. Explore how to develop, select, or modify mathematics tasks in order to balance cognitive demand and engage students. Discover the three important norms to uphold in all mathematics classrooms. Learn to apply the tasks, questioning, and evidence (TQE) process to ensure mathematics instruction is focused, coherent, and rigorous. Gain clarity about the most productive progression of mathematical teaching and learning for high school. Watch short videos that show what classrooms that are developing mathematical understanding should look like. Contents Introduction Equations and Functions Structure of Equations Geometry Types of Functions Function Modeling Statistics and Probability Epilogue: Next Steps Appendix: Weight Loss Study Data References Index

Download or read book Data Insights written by Hunter Whitney and published by Newnes. This book was released on 2012-11-27 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Data Insights: New Ways to Visualize and Make Sense of Data offers thought-provoking insights into how visualization can foster a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of data. The book offers perspectives from people with different backgrounds, including data scientists, statisticians, painters, and writers. It argues that all data is useless, or misleading, if we do not know what it means.Organized into seven chapters, the book explores some of the ways that data visualization and other emerging approaches can make data meaningful and therefore useful. It also discusses some fundamental ideas and basic questions in the data lifecycle; the process of interactions between people, data, and displays that lead to better questions and more useful answers; and the fundamentals, origins, and purposes of the basic building blocks that are used in data visualization. The reader is introduced to tried and true approaches to understanding users in the context of user interface design, how communications can get distorted, and how data visualization is related to thinking machines. Finally, the book looks at the future of data visualization by assessing its strengths and weaknesses. Case studies from business analytics, healthcare, network monitoring, security, and games, among others, as well as illustrations, thought-provoking quotes, and real-world examples are included.This book will prove useful to computer professionals, technical marketing professionals, content strategists, Web and product designers, and researchers. - Demonstrates, with a variety of case studies, how visualizations can foster a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of data - Answers the question, "How can data visualization help me?" with discussions of how it fits into a wide array of purposes and situations - Makes the case that data visualization is not just about technology; it also involves a deeply human process

Download or read book Making Sense of Statistics written by Fred Pyrczak and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2016-10-04 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: • An overview of descriptive and inferential statistics without formulas and computations. • Clear and to-the-point narrative makes this short book perfect for all courses in which statistics are discussed. • Helps statistics students who are struggling with the concepts. Shows them the meanings of the statistics they are computing. • This book is easy to digest because it is divided into short sections with review questions at the end of each section. • Running sidebars draw students’ attention to important concepts.

Download or read book Making Sense of Data III written by Glenn J. Myatt and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-09-09 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focuses on insights, approaches, and techniques that are essential to designing interactive graphics and visualizations Making Sense of Data III: A Practical Guide to Designing Interactive Data Visualizations explores a diverse range of disciplines to explain how meaning from graphical representations is extracted. Additionally, the book describes the best approach for designing and implementing interactive graphics and visualizations that play a central role in data exploration and decision-support systems. Beginning with an introduction to visual perception, Making Sense of Data III features a brief history on the use of visualization in data exploration and an outline of the design process. Subsequent chapters explore the following key areas: Cognitive and Visual Systems describes how various drawings, maps, and diagrams known as external representations are understood and used to extend the mind's capabilities Graphics Representations introduces semiotic theory and discusses the seminal work of cartographer Jacques Bertin and the grammar of graphics as developed by Leland Wilkinson Designing Visual Interactions discusses the four stages of design process—analysis, design, prototyping, and evaluation—and covers the important principles and strategies for designing visual interfaces, information visualizations, and data graphics Hands-on: Creative Interactive Visualizations with Protovis provides an in-depth explanation of the capabilities of the Protovis toolkit and leads readers through the creation of a series of visualizations and graphics The final chapter includes step-by-step examples that illustrate the implementation of the discussed methods, and a series of exercises are provided to assist in learning the Protovis language. A related website features the source code for the presented software as well as examples and solutions for select exercises. Featuring research in psychology, vision science, statistics, and interaction design, Making Sense of Data III is an indispensable book for courses on data analysis and data mining at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. The book also serves as a valuable reference for computational statisticians, software engineers, researchers, and professionals of any discipline who would like to understand how the mind processes graphical representations.

Download or read book Making Sense of Social Research Methodology written by Pengfei Zhao and published by SAGE Publications, Incorporated. This book was released on 2021-01-04 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Making Sense of Social Research Methodology: A Student and Practitioner Centered Approach introduces students to research methods by illuminating the underlying assumptions of social science inquiry. Authors Pengfei Zhao, Karen Ross, Peiwei Li, and Barbara Dennis show how research concepts are often an integral part of everyday life through illustrative common scenarios, like looking for a recipe or going on a job interview. The authors extrapolate from these personal but ubiquitous experiences to further explain concepts, like gathering data or social context, so students develop a deeper understanding of research and its applications outside of the classroom. Students from across the social sciences can take this new understanding into their own research, their professional lives, and their personal lives with a new sense of relevancy and urgency. This text is organized into clusters that center on major topics in social science research. The first cluster introduces concepts that are fundamental to all aspects and steps of the research process. These concepts include relationality, identity, ethics, epistemology, validity, and the sociopolitical context within which research occurs. The second and third clusters focus on data and inference. These clusters engage concretely with steps of the research process, including decisions about designing research, generating data, making inferences. Throughout the chapters, Pause and Reflect open-ended questions provide readers with the space for further inquiry into research concepts and how they apply to life. Research Scenario features in each chapter offer new perspectives on major research topics from leading and emerging voices in methods. Moving from this dialogic perspective to more actionable advice, You and Research features offer students concrete steps for engaging with research. Take your research into the world with Making Sense of Social Research Methodology: A Student and Practitioner Centered Approach.

Download or read book Making Sense of Race Class and Gender written by Celine-Marie Pascale and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using arresting case studies of how ordinary people understand the concepts of race, class, and gender, Celine-Marie Pascale shows that the peculiarity of commonsense is that it imposes obviousness—that which we cannot fail to recognize. As a result, how we negotiate the challenges of inequality in the twenty-first century may depend less on what people consciously think about "difference" and more on what we inadvertently assume. Through an analysis of commonsense knowledge, Pascale expertly provides new insights into familiar topics. In addition, by analyzing local practices in the context of established cultural discourses, Pascale shows how the weight of history bears on the present moment, both enabling and constraining possibilities. Pascale tests the boundaries of sociological knowledge and offers new avenues for conceptualizing social change. In 2008, Making Sense of Race, Class and Gender was the recipient of the Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Book Award, of the American Sociological Association Section on Race, Gender, and Class, for "distinguished and significant contribution to the development of the integrative field of race, gender, and class."

Download or read book Data Assimilation written by William Lahoz and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-07-23 with total page 710 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Data assimilation methods were largely developed for operational weather forecasting, but in recent years have been applied to an increasing range of earth science disciplines. This book will set out the theoretical basis of data assimilation with contributions by top international experts in the field. Various aspects of data assimilation are discussed including: theory; observations; models; numerical weather prediction; evaluation of observations and models; assessment of future satellite missions; application to components of the Earth System. References are made to recent developments in data assimilation theory (e.g. Ensemble Kalman filter), and to novel applications of the data assimilation method (e.g. ionosphere, Mars data assimilation).

Download or read book The Data Detective written by Tim Harford and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-02-02 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From “one of the great (greatest?) contemporary popular writers on economics” (Tyler Cowen) comes a smart, lively, and encouraging rethinking of how to use statistics. Today we think statistics are the enemy, numbers used to mislead and confuse us. That’s a mistake, Tim Harford says in The Data Detective. We shouldn’t be suspicious of statistics—we need to understand what they mean and how they can improve our lives: they are, at heart, human behavior seen through the prism of numbers and are often “the only way of grasping much of what is going on around us.” If we can toss aside our fears and learn to approach them clearly—understanding how our own preconceptions lead us astray—statistics can point to ways we can live better and work smarter. As “perhaps the best popular economics writer in the world” (New Statesman), Tim Harford is an expert at taking complicated ideas and untangling them for millions of readers. In The Data Detective, he uses new research in science and psychology to set out ten strategies for using statistics to erase our biases and replace them with new ideas that use virtues like patience, curiosity, and good sense to better understand ourselves and the world. As a result, The Data Detective is a big-idea book about statistics and human behavior that is fresh, unexpected, and insightful.

Download or read book Making Sense of Research in Nursing Health and Social Care written by Pam Moule and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2015-02-18 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is research? Why is it important in health and nursing? How should students use evidence in practice? This short and simple book for those who are completely new to research will answer all your students’ questions about the subject. It will help them to make sense of the various and often confusing research methods and terminology, to read and appraise literature and to understand how research is implemented in practice. It features: · Case examples of real research from a variety of settings and a range of countries so that students can see how research applies to the real world · Tools, examples and frameworks to help students to find, appraise and critique research · Chapter learning outcomes and key points to help students to remember important information · A companion website with interactive glossary and reflective exercises to help students test their knowledge and apply it to practice, printable step-by-step frameworks for use when searching for or critiquing a paper, and direct links to relevant SAGE journal articles and weblinks. · Further resources for lecturers are available, including all the practice examples from the book, seminar question ideas and critical appraisal powerpoints. The book is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of nursing and health in the UK and internationally.