Database Reference
In-Depth Information
LEARNING THE LANGUAGE OF DATA
Understanding statistical concepts like those described above is an impor-
tant skill. Clive Thompson emphasizes this point in a
Wired
magazine article
entitled
Why We Should Learn the Language of Data
.2 He frets that a collective
inability to understand statistics leads to misguided conclusions. “Gamblers
think their number is more likely to come up this time because it didn't come
up last time. Political polls are touted by the media even when their samples
are laughably skewed.” He concludes: “We often say, rightly, that literacy is
crucial to public life: If you can't write, you can't think. The same is now true
in math. Statistics is the new grammar.”
As you engage with data products, you'll find it equally important to under-
stand the raw materials of the information you are looking at. By knowing the
language of data and how to quickly read it, you'll have a step up in interpret-
ing what you see and where to find insights.
This section offers practical guidance on how to engage with data products
and extract meaning. It tackles the problem in four parts:
Learn the components of data to understand how data products are
constructed.
⬛
Explore data tables to start to get a sense of the shape and insights in
the data.
⬛
Look for the unexpected in data products.
⬛
Find a starting point within a complex data product.
⬛
Before you begin to explore data tables and data products, look at the underly-
ing structure of data. Understanding the building blocks of data can help you
be more efficient in reading tables, charts, and other data products.
ATO M I C DATA
Each row in raw data represents an
element
, a person, place, or object doing
something. The data that is captured includes
dimensions
, which describe
characteristics of the elements involved, and
metrics
answer the question
“how much?” or “how many?” Metrics can be added up, averaged, or otherwise
manipulated with arithmetic or statistics. Now consider this nonsense sentence.
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.
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