This textbook presents the essential tools and core concepts of data science to public officials, policy analysts, and economists among others in order to further their application in the public sector. An expansion of the quantitative economics frameworks presented in policy and business schools, this book emphasizes the process of asking relevant questions to inform public policy. Its techniques and approaches emphasize data-driven practices, beginning with the basic programming paradigms that occupy the majority of an analyst's time and advancing to the practical applications of statistical learning and machine learning. The text considers two divergent, competing perspectives to support its applications, incorporating techniques from both causal inference and prediction. Additionally, the book includes open-sourced data as well as live code, written in R and presented in notebook form, which readers can use and modify to practice working with data.

This is a book about how ecologists can integrate remote sensing and GIS in their research. It will allow readers to get started with the application of remote sensing and to understand its potential and limitations. Using practical examples, the book covers all necessary steps from planning field campaigns to deriving ecologically relevant information through remote sensing and modelling of species distributions. An Introduction to Spatial Data Analysis introduces spatial data handling using the open source software Quantum GIS (QGIS). In addition, readers will be guided through their first steps in the R programming language. The authors explain the fundamentals of spatial data handling and analysis, empowering the reader to turn data acquired in the field into actual spatial data. Readers will learn to process and analyse spatial data of different types and interpret the data and results. After finishing this book, readers will be able to address questions such as "What is the distance to the border of the protected area?", "Which points are located close to a road?", "Which fraction of land cover types exist in my study area?" using different software and techniques. This book is for novice spatial data users and does not assume any prior knowledge of spatial data itself or practical experience working with such data sets. Readers will likely include student and professional ecologists, geographers and any environmental scientists or practitioners who need to collect, visualize and analyse spatial data. The software used is the widely applied open source scientific programs QGIS and R. All scripts and data sets used in the book will be provided online at book.ecosens.org. This book covers specific methods including: what to consider before collecting in situ data how to work with spatial data collected in situ the difference between raster and vector data how to acquire further vector and raster data how to create relevant environmental information how to combine and analyse in situ and remote sensing data how to create useful maps for field work and presentations how to use QGIS and R for spatial analysis how to develop analysis scripts

Social media has put mass communication in the hands of normal people on an unprecedented scale, and has also given social scientists the tools necessary to listen to the voices of everyday people around the world. This book gives social scientists the skills necessary to leverage that opportunity, and transform social media's vast stream of information into social science data. The book combines the big data techniques of computer science with social science methodology. Intended as a text for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers in the social sciences, this book provides a methodological pathway for scholars who want to make use of this new and evolving source of data. It provides a framework for building one's own data collection and analysis infrastructure, a toolkit of content analysis, geographic analysis, and network analysis, and meditations on the ethical implications of social media data.

Social media has put mass communication in the hands of normal people on an unprecedented scale, and has also given social scientists the tools necessary to listen to the voices of everyday people around the world. This book gives social scientists the skills necessary to leverage that opportunity, and transform social media's vast stream of information into social science data. The book combines the big data techniques of computer science with social science methodology. Intended as a text for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers in the social sciences, this book provides a methodological pathway for scholars who want to make use of this new and evolving source of data. It provides a framework for building one's own data collection and analysis infrastructure, a toolkit of content analysis, geographic analysis, and network analysis, and meditations on the ethical implications of social media data.

For increasingly data-savvy clients, lawyers can no longer give "it depends" answers rooted in anecdata. Clients insist that their lawyers justify their reasoning, and with more than a limited set of war stories. The considered judgment of an experienced lawyer is unquestionably valuable. However, on balance, clients would rather have the considered judgment of an experienced lawyer informed by the most relevant information required to answer their questions. Data-Driven Law: Data Analytics and the New Legal Services helps legal professionals meet the challenges posed by a data-driven approach to delivering legal services. Its chapters are written by leading experts who cover such topics as: Mining legal data Computational law Uncovering bias through the use of Big Data Quantifying the quality of legal services Data mining and decision-making Contract analytics and contract standards In addition to providing clients with data-based insight, legal firms can track a matter with data from beginning to end, from the marketing spend through to the type of matter, hours spent, billed, and collected, including metrics on profitability and success. Firms can organize and collect documents after a matter and even automate them for reuse. Data on marketing related to a matter can be an amazing source of insight about which practice areas are most profitable. Data-driven decision-making requires firms to think differently about their workflow. Most firms warehouse their files, never to be seen again after the matter closes. Running a data-driven firm requires lawyers and their teams to treat information about the work as part of the service, and to collect, standardize, and analyze matter data from cradle to grave. More than anything, using data in a law practice requires a different mindset about the value of this information. This book helps legal professionals to develop this data-driven mindset.

Data Science and Analytics explores the solutions to problems in society, environment and in industry. With the increase in the availability of data, analytics has now become a major element in both the top line and the bottom line of any organization. This book explores perspectives on how big data and business analytics are increasingly essential in better decision making. This edited work explores the application of big data and business analytics by academics, researchers, industrial experts, policy makers and practitioners, helping the reader to understand how big data can be efficiently utilized in better managerial applications. Data Science and Analytics brings together researchers, engineers and practitioners to encompass a wide and diverse range of topics in a wide range of fields. The book will provide unique insights to researchers, academics and data scientists from a variety of disciplines interested in analyzing and application of big data analytics, as well as data analysts, students and scholars pursuing advanced study in big data.

Drawing on his extensive experience of qualitative research, Douglas Ezzy reviews approaches to data analysis in established research traditions including ethnography, phenomenology and symbolic interactionism, alongside the newer approaches informed by cultural studies and feminism. He explains the difference between inductive, deductive and abductive theory building, provides a guide to computer-assisted analysis and outlines techniques such as journal writing, team meetings and participant reviews.

This textbook presents an innovative new perspective on the economics of development, including insights from a broad range of disciplines. It starts with the current state of affairs, a discussion of data availability, reliability, and analysis, and an historic overview of the deep influence of fundamental factors on human prosperity. Next, it focuses on the role of human interaction in terms of trade, capital, and knowledge flows, as well as the associated implications for institutions, contracts, and finance. The book also highlights differences in the development paths of emerging countries in order to provide a better understanding of the concepts of development and the Millennium Development Goals. Insights from other disciplines are used help to understand human development with regard to other issues, such as inequalities, health, demography, education, and poverty. The book concludes by emphasizing the importance of connections, location, and human interaction in determining future prosperity.

This is a fundamental reference work for any scientist contemplating using AI for data analysis.

This textbook bypasses the need for advanced mathematics by providing in-text computer code, allowing students to explore Bayesian data analysis without the calculus background normally considered a prerequisite for this material. Now, students can use the best methods without needing advanced mathematical techniques. This approach goes beyond "frequentist" concepts of p-values and null hypothesis testing, using the full power of modern probability theory to solve real-world problems. The book offers a fully self-contained course, which demonstrates analysis techniques throughout with worked examples crafted specifically for students in the behavioral and neural sciences. The book presents two general algorithms that help students solve the measurement and model selection (also called "hypothesis testing") problems most frequently encountered in real-world applications.

Network thinking and network analysis are rapidly expanding features of ecological research. Network analysis of ecological systems include representations and modelling of the interactions in an ecosystem, in which species or factors are joined by pairwise connections. This book provides an overview of ecological network analysis including generating processes, the relationship between structure and dynamic function, and statistics and models for these networks. Starting with a general introduction to the composition of networks and their characteristics, it includes details on such topics as measures of network complexity, applications of spectral graph theory, how best to include indirect species interactions, and multilayer, multiplex and multilevel networks. Graduate students and researchers who want to develop and understand ecological networks in their research will find this volume inspiring and helpful. Detailed guidance to those already working in network ecology but looking for advice is also included.

A comprehensive guide to data analysis techniques for physical scientists, providing a valuable resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, as well as seasoned researchers. The book begins with an extensive discussion of the foundational concepts and methods of probability and statistics under both the frequentist and Bayesian interpretations of probability. It next presents basic concepts and techniques used for measurements of particle production cross-sections, correlation functions, and particle identification. Much attention is devoted to notions of statistical and systematic errors, beginning with intuitive discussions and progressively introducing the more formal concepts of confidence intervals, credible range, and hypothesis testing. The book also includes an in-depth discussion of the methods used to unfold or correct data for instrumental effects associated with measurement and process noise as well as particle and event losses, before ending with a presentation of elementary Monte Carlo techniques.

This volume focuses on the ethics of internet and social networking research exploring the challenges faced by researchers making use of social media and big data in their research. The internet, the world wide web and social media - indeed all forms of online communications - are attractive fields of research across a range of disciplines. They offer opportunities for methodological initiatives and innovations in research and easily accessed, massive amounts of primary and secondary data sources. This collection examines the new challenges posed by data generated online, explores how researchers are addressing those ethical challenges, and provides rich case studies of ethical decision making in the digital age.

This important text has been completely revised and expanded to become the most up-to-date and thorough professional reference text in this fast-moving area of biostatistics (medical statistics). This new edition contains an additional two chapters. The first of these discusses fully parametric models for discrete repeated measures data. The second explores statistical models for time-dependent predictors where there may be feedback between the predictor and response variables.

Chunyan Li is a course instructor with many years of experience in teaching about time series analysis. His book is essential for students and researchers in oceanography and other subjects in the Earth sciences, looking for a complete coverage of the theory and practice of time series data analysis using MATLAB. This textbook covers the topic's core theory in depth, and provides numerous instructional examples, many drawn directly from the author's own teaching experience, using data files, examples, and exercises. The book explores many concepts, including time; distance on Earth; wind, current, and wave data formats; finding a subset of ship-based data along planned or random transects; error propagation; Taylor series expansion for error estimates; the least squares method; base functions and linear independence of base functions; tidal harmonic analysis; Fourier series and the generalized Fourier transform; filtering techniques: sampling theorems: finite sampling effects; wavelet analysis; and EOF analysis.

Corpora are ubiquitous in linguistic research, yet to date, there has been no consensus on how to conceptualize corpus representativeness and collect corpus samples. This pioneering book bridges this gap by introducing a conceptual and methodological framework for corpus design and representativeness. Written by experts in the field, it shows how corpora can be designed and built in a way that is both optimally suited to specific research agendas, and adequately representative of the types of language use in question. It considers questions such as 'what types of texts should be included in the corpus?', and 'how many texts are required?' - highlighting that the degree of representativeness rests on the dual pillars of domain considerations and distribution considerations. The authors introduce, explain, and illustrate all aspects of this corpus representativeness framework in a step-by-step fashion, using examples and activities to help readers develop practical skills in corpus design and evaluation.

Topological data analysis (TDA) has emerged recently as a viable tool for analyzing complex data, and the area has grown substantially both in its methodologies and applicability. Providing a computational and algorithmic foundation for techniques in TDA, this comprehensive, self-contained text introduces students and researchers in mathematics and computer science to the current state of the field. The book features a description of mathematical objects and constructs behind recent advances, the algorithms involved, computational considerations, as well as examples of topological structures or ideas that can be used in applications. It provides a thorough treatment of persistent homology together with various extensions - like zigzag persistence and multiparameter persistence - and their applications to different types of data, like point clouds, triangulations, or graph data. Other important topics covered include discrete Morse theory, the Mapper structure, optimal generating cycles, as well as recent advances in embedding TDA within machine learning frameworks.

This book constitutes selected and revised papers from the First Mediterranean Forum - Data Science Conference, MeFDATA 2020, held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in October 2020. The 11 papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from the 26 qualified submissions. The papers are organized in the topical sections on human behaviour and pandemic; applications in medicine; industrial applications; natural language processing.

Now in striking full color, the Second Edition shows readers how to make the research results presented in reports, slideshows, dashboards, posters, and data visualizations more interesting, engaging, and impactful. The book guides students, researchers, evaluators, entrepreneurs, and non-profit workers-anyone reporting data to an outside audience-through design choices in four primary areas: graphics, text, color, and arrangement. The Second Edition features an improved layout with larger screenshots, a review of the recent literature on data visualization, and input from a panel of graphic design experts.

Climate predictions - and the computer models behind them - play a key role in shaping public opinion and our response to the climate crisis. Some people interpret these predictions as 'prophecies of doom' and some others dismiss them as mere speculation, but the vast majority are only vaguely aware of the science behind them. This book gives a balanced view of the strengths and limitations of climate modeling. It covers historical developments, current challenges, and future trends in the field. The accessible discussion of climate modeling only requires a basic knowledge of science. Uncertainties in climate predictions and their implications for assessing climate risk are analyzed, as are the computational challenges faced by future models. The book concludes by highlighting the dangers of climate 'doomism', while also making clear the value of predictive models, and the severe and very real risks posed by anthropogenic climate change.

Recent years have witnessed an explosion in the volume and variety of data collected in all scientific disciplines and industrial settings. Such massive data sets present a number of challenges to researchers in statistics and machine learning. This book provides a self-contained introduction to the area of high-dimensional statistics, aimed at the first-year graduate level. It includes chapters that are focused on core methodology and theory - including tail bounds, concentration inequalities, uniform laws and empirical process, and random matrices - as well as chapters devoted to in-depth exploration of particular model classes - including sparse linear models, matrix models with rank constraints, graphical models, and various types of non-parametric models. With hundreds of worked examples and exercises, this text is intended both for courses and for self-study by graduate students and researchers in statistics, machine learning, and related fields who must understand, apply, and adapt modern statistical methods suited to large-scale data.

Fundamentals of Big Data Network Analysis for Research and Industry Hyunjoung Lee, Institute of Green Technology, Yonsei University, Republic of Korea Il Sohn, Material Science and Engineering, Yonsei University, Republic of Korea Presents the methodology of big data analysis using examples from research and industry There are large amounts of data everywhere, and the ability to pick out crucial information is increasingly important. Contrary to popular belief, not all information is useful; big data network analysis assumes that data is not only large, but also meaningful, and this book focuses on the fundamental techniques required to extract essential information from vast datasets. Featuring case studies drawn largely from the iron and steel industries, this book offers practical guidance which will enable readers to easily understand big data network analysis. Particular attention is paid to the methodology of network analysis, offering information on the method of data collection, on research design and analysis, and on the interpretation of results. A variety of programs including UCINET, NetMiner, R, NodeXL, and Gephi for network analysis are covered in detail. Fundamentals of Big Data Network Analysis for Research and Industry looks at big data from a fresh perspective, and provides a new approach to data analysis. This book : Explains the basic concepts in understanding big data and filtering meaningful data Presents big data analysis within the networking perspective Features methodology applicable to research and industry Describes in detail the social relationship between big data and its implications Provides insight into identifying patterns and relationships between seemingly unrelated big data Fundamentals of Big Data Network Analysis for Research and Industry will prove a valuable resource for analysts, research engineers, industrial engineers, marketing professionals, and any individuals dealing with accumulated large data whose interest is to analyze and identify potential relationships among data sets.

This book gives an up-to-date overview of methodological and data-analytical issues of cross-cultural studies. Written by leading experts in the field, it presents the most important tools for doing cross-cultural research and outlines design considerations, methods, and analytical techniques that can improve ecological validity and help researchers to avoid pitfalls in cross-cultural psychology. By focusing on the relevant research questions that can be tackled with particular methods, it provides practical guidance on how to translate conceptual questions into decisions on study design and statistical techniques. Featuring examples from cognitive and educational assessment, personality, health, and intercultural communication and management, and illustrating key techniques in feature boxes, this concise and accessible guide is essential reading for researchers, graduate students, and professionals who work with culture-comparative data.

This book gives an up-to-date overview of methodological and data-analytical issues of cross-cultural studies. Written by leading experts in the field, it presents the most important tools for doing cross-cultural research and outlines design considerations, methods, and analytical techniques that can improve ecological validity and help researchers to avoid pitfalls in cross-cultural psychology. By focusing on the relevant research questions that can be tackled with particular methods, it provides practical guidance on how to translate conceptual questions into decisions on study design and statistical techniques. Featuring examples from cognitive and educational assessment, personality, health, and intercultural communication and management, and illustrating key techniques in feature boxes, this concise and accessible guide is essential reading for researchers, graduate students, and professionals who work with culture-comparative data.

This book offers an introduction and hands-on examples that demonstrate how Learning Analytics (LA) can be used to enhance digital learning, teaching and training at various levels. While the majority of existing literature on the subject focuses on its application at large corporations, this book develops and showcases approaches that bring LA closer to smaller organizations, and to educational institutions that lack sufficient resources to implement a full-fledged LA infrastructure. In closing, the book introduces a set of software tools for data analytics and visualization, and explains how they can be employed in several LA scenarios.