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.

This is the first comprehensive overview of the 'science of science,' an emerging interdisciplinary field that relies on big data to unveil the reproducible patterns that govern individual scientific careers and the workings of science. It explores the roots of scientific impact, the role of productivity and creativity, when and what kind of collaborations are effective, the impact of failure and success in a scientific career, and what metrics can tell us about the fundamental workings of science. The book relies on data to draw actionable insights, which can be applied by individuals to further their career or decision makers to enhance the role of science in society. With anecdotes and detailed, easy-to-follow explanations of the research, this book is accessible to all scientists and graduate students, policymakers, and administrators with an interest in the wider scientific enterprise.

Big Data and methods for analyzing large data sets such as machine learning have in recent times deeply transformed scientific practice in many fields. However, an epistemological study of these novel tools is still largely lacking. After a conceptual analysis of the notion of data and a brief introduction into the methodological dichotomy between inductivism and hypothetico-deductivism, several controversial theses regarding big data approaches are discussed. These include, whether correlation replaces causation, whether the end of theory is in sight and whether big data approaches constitute entirely novel scientific methodology. In this Element, I defend an inductivist view of big data research and argue that the type of induction employed by the most successful big data algorithms is variational induction in the tradition of Mill's methods. Based on this insight, the before-mentioned epistemological issues can be systematically addressed.

This textbook provides future data analysts with the tools, methods, and skills needed to answer data-focused, real-life questions; to carry out data analysis; and to visualize and interpret results to support better decisions in business, economics, and public policy. Data wrangling and exploration, regression analysis, machine learning, and causal analysis are comprehensively covered, as well as when, why, and how the methods work, and how they relate to each other. As the most effective way to communicate data analysis, running case studies play a central role in this textbook. Each case starts with an industry-relevant question and answers it by using real-world data and applying the tools and methods covered in the textbook. Learning is then consolidated by 360 practice questions and 120 data exercises. Extensive online resources, including raw and cleaned data and codes for all analysis in Stata, R, and Python, can be found at www.gabors-data-analysis.com.

Despite businesses often being based on creating desirable experiences, products and services for consumers, many fail to consider the end user in their planning and development processes. This book is here to change that. User experience research, also known as UX research, focuses on understanding user behaviours, needs and motivations through a range of observational techniques, task analysis and other methodologies. User Research is a practical guide that shows readers how to use the vast array of user research methods available. Written by one of the UK's leading UX research professionals, readers can benefit from in-depth knowledge that explores the fundamentals of user research. Covering all the key research methods including face-to-face user testing, card sorting, surveys, A/B testing and many more, the book gives expert insight into the nuances, advantages and disadvantages of each, while also providing guidance on how to interpret, analyze and share the data once it has been obtained. Now in its second edition, User Research provides a new chapter on research operations and infrastructure as well as new material on combining user research methodologies.

The massive volume of data generated in modern applications can overwhelm our ability to conveniently transmit, store, and index it. For many scenarios, building a compact summary of a dataset that is vastly smaller enables flexibility and efficiency in a range of queries over the data, in exchange for some approximation. This comprehensive introduction to data summarization, aimed at practitioners and students, showcases the algorithms, their behavior, and the mathematical underpinnings of their operation. The coverage starts with simple sums and approximate counts, building to more advanced probabilistic structures such as the Bloom Filter, distinct value summaries, sketches, and quantile summaries. Summaries are described for specific types of data, such as geometric data, graphs, and vectors and matrices. The authors offer detailed descriptions of and pseudocode for key algorithms that have been incorporated in systems from companies such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix and Twitter.

In the global race to reach the end of AIDS, why is the world slipping off track? The answer has to do with stigma, money, and data. Global funding for AIDS response is declining. Tough choices must be made: some people will win and some will lose. Global aid agencies and governments use health data to make these choices. While aid agencies prioritize a shrinking list of countries, many governments deny that sex workers, men who have sex with men, drug users, and transgender people exist. Since no data is gathered about their needs, life-saving services are not funded, and the lack of data reinforces the denial. The Uncounted cracks open this and other data paradoxes through interviews with global health leaders and activists, ethnographic research, analysis of gaps in mathematical models, and the author's experience as an activist and senior official. It shows what is counted, what is not, and why empowering communities to gather their own data could be key to ending AIDS.

This comprehensive book, rich with applications, offers a quantitative framework for the analysis of the various capture-recapture models for open animal populations, while also addressing associated computational methods. The state of our wildlife populations provides a litmus test for the state of our environment, especially in light of global warming and the increasing pollution of our land, seas, and air. In addition to monitoring our food resources such as fisheries, we need to protect endangered species from the effects of human activities (e.g. rhinos, whales, or encroachments on the habitat of orangutans). Pests must be be controlled, whether insects or viruses, and we need to cope with growing feral populations such as opossums, rabbits, and pigs. Accordingly, we need to obtain information about a given population's dynamics, concerning e.g. mortality, birth, growth, breeding, sex, and migration, and determine whether the respective population is increasing , static, or declining. There are many methods for obtaining population information, but the most useful (and most work-intensive) is generically known as "capture-recapture," where we mark or tag a representative sample of individuals from the population and follow that sample over time using recaptures, resightings, or dead recoveries. Marks can be natural, such as stripes, fin profiles, and even DNA; or artificial, such as spots on insects. Attached tags can, for example, be simple bands or streamers, or more sophisticated variants such as radio and sonic transmitters. To estimate population parameters, sophisticated and complex mathematical models have been devised on the basis of recapture information and computer packages. This book addresses the analysis of such models. It is primarily intended for ecologists and wildlife managers who wish to apply the methods to the types of problems discussed above, though it will also benefit researchers and graduate students in ecology. Familiarity with basic statistical concepts is essential.

Focus on the most important and most often overlooked factor in a successful Tableau project-data. Without a reliable data source, you will not achieve the results you hope for in Tableau. This book does more than teach the mechanics of data preparation. It teaches you: how to look at data in a new way, to recognize the most common issues that hinder analytics, and how to mitigate those factors one by one. Tableau can change the course of business, but the old adage of "garbage in, garbage out" is the hard truth that hides behind every Tableau sales pitch. That amazing sales demo does not work as well with bad data. The unfortunate reality is that almost all data starts out in a less-than-perfect state. Data prep is hard. Traditionally, we were forced into the world of the database where complex ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) operations created by the data team did all the heavy lifting for us. Fortunately, we have moved past those days. With the introduction of the Tableau Data Prep tool you can now handle most of the common Data Prep and cleanup tasks on your own, at your desk, and without the help of the data team. This essential book will guide you through: The layout and important parts of the Tableau Data Prep tool Connecting to data Data quality and consistency The shape of the data. Is the data oriented in columns or rows? How to decide? Why does it matter? What is the level of detail in the source data? Why is that important? Combining source data to bring in more fields and rows Saving the data flow and the results of our data prep work Common cleanup and setup tasks in Tableau Desktop What You Will Learn Recognize data sources that are good candidates for analytics in Tableau Connect to local, server, and cloud-based data sources Profile data to better understand its content and structure Rename fields, adjust data types, group data points, and aggregate numeric data Pivot data Join data from local, server, and cloud-based sources for unified analytics Review the steps and results of each phase of the Data Prep process Output new data sources that can be reviewed in Tableau or any other analytics tool Who This Book Is For Tableau Desktop users who want to: connect to data, profile the data to identify common issues, clean up those issues, join to additional data sources, and save the newly cleaned, joined data so that it can be used more effectively in Tableau

This is the first rigorous, self-contained treatment of the theory of deep learning. Starting with the foundations of the theory and building it up, this is essential reading for any scientists, instructors, and students interested in artificial intelligence and deep learning. It provides guidance on how to think about scientific questions, and leads readers through the history of the field and its fundamental connections to neuroscience. The author discusses many applications to beautiful problems in the natural sciences, in physics, chemistry, and biomedicine. Examples include the search for exotic particles and dark matter in experimental physics, the prediction of molecular properties and reaction outcomes in chemistry, and the prediction of protein structures and the diagnostic analysis of biomedical images in the natural sciences. The text is accompanied by a full set of exercises at different difficulty levels and encourages out-of-the-box thinking.

At first glance, the skills required to work in the data science field appear to be self-explanatory. Do not be fooled. Impactful data science demands an interdisciplinary knowledge of business philosophy, project management, salesmanship, presentation, and more. In Managing Your Data Science Projects, author Robert de Graaf explores important concepts that are frequently overlooked in much of the instructional literature that is available to data scientists new to the field. If your completed models are to be used and maintained most effectively, you must be able to present and sell them within your organization in a compelling way. The value of data science within an organization cannot be overstated. Thus, it is vital that strategies and communication between teams are dexterously managed. Three main ways that data science strategy is used in a company is to research its customers, assess risk analytics, and log operational measurements. These all require different managerial instincts, backgrounds, and experiences, and de Graaf cogently breaks down the unique reasons behind each. They must align seamlessly to eventually be adopted as dynamic models. Data science is a relatively new discipline, and as such, internal processes for it are not as well-developed within an operational business as others. With Managing Your Data Science Projects, you will learn how to create products that solve important problems for your customers and ensure that the initial success is sustained throughout the product's intended life. Your users will trust you and your models, and most importantly, you will be a more well-rounded and effectual data scientist throughout your career. Who This Book Is For Early-career data scientists, managers of data scientists, and those interested in entering the field of data science

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

AN ECONOMIST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017

Insightful, surprising and with ground-breaking revelations about our society, Everybody Lies exposes the secrets embedded in our internet searches, with a foreword by bestselling author Steven Pinker

Everybody lies, to friends, lovers, doctors, pollsters - and to themselves. In Internet searches, however, people confess their secrets - about sexless marriages, mental health problems, even racist views. Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, an economist and former Google data scientist, shows that this could just be the most important dataset ever collected.

This huge database of secrets - unprecedented in human history - offers astonishing, even revolutionary, insights into humankind. Anxiety, for instance, does not increase after a terrorist attack. Crime levels drop when a violent film is released. And racist searches are no higher in Republican areas than in Democrat ones.

Stephens-Davidowitz reveals information we can use to change our culture, and the questions we're afraid to ask that might be essential to our health - both emotional and physical. Insightful, funny, and always surprising, Everybody Lies exposes the biases and secrets embedded deeply within us, at a time when things are harder to predict than ever.

More students study management and organization studies than ever, the number of business schools worldwide continues to rise, and more management research is being published in a greater number of journals than could have been imagined twenty years ago. Dennis Tourish looks beneath the surface of this progress to expose a field in crisis and in need of radical reform. He identifies the ways in which management research has lost its way, including a remoteness from the practical problems that managers and employees face, a failure to replicate key research findings, poor writing, endless obscure theorizing, and an increasing number of research papers being retracted for fraud and other forms of malpractice. Tourish suggests fundamental changes to remedy these issues, enabling management research to become more robust, more interesting and more valuable to society. A must read for academics, practising managers, university administrators and policy makers within higher education.

This is the ideal book to get you up and running with the basics of qualitative data analysis. It breaks everything down into a series of simple steps and introduces the practical tools and techniques you need to turn your transcripts into meaningful research. Using multidisciplinary data from interviews and focus groups Jamie Harding provides clear guidance on how to apply key research skills such as making summaries, identifying similarities, drawing comparisons and using codes. The book sets out real world applicable advice, provides easy to follow best practice and helps you to: * Manage and sort your data * Find your argument and define your conclusions * Answer your research question * Write up your research for assessment and dissemination Clear, pragmatic and honest this book will give you the perfect framework to start understanding your qualitative data and to finish your research project.

A comprehensive compilation of new developments in data linkage methodology The increasing availability of large administrative databases has led to a dramatic rise in the use of data linkage, yet the standard texts on linkage are still those which describe the seminal work from the 1950-60s, with some updates. Linkage and analysis of data across sources remains problematic due to lack of discriminatory and accurate identifiers, missing data and regulatory issues. Recent developments in data linkage methodology have concentrated on bias and analysis of linked data, novel approaches to organising relationships between databases and privacy-preserving linkage. Methodological Developments in Data Linkage brings together a collection of contributions from members of the international data linkage community, covering cutting edge methodology in this field. It presents opportunities and challenges provided by linkage of large and often complex datasets, including analysis problems, legal and security aspects, models for data access and the development of novel research areas. New methods for handling uncertainty in analysis of linked data, solutions for anonymised linkage and alternative models for data collection are also discussed. Key Features : Presents cutting edge methods for a topic of increasing importance to a wide range of research areas, with applications to data linkage systems internationally Covers the essential issues associated with data linkage today Includes examples based on real data linkage systems, highlighting the opportunities, successes and challenges that the increasing availability of linkage data provides Novel approach incorporates technical aspects of both linkage, management and analysis of linked data This book will be of core interest to academics, government employees, data holders, data managers, analysts and statisticians who use administrative data. It will also appeal to researchers in a variety of areas, including epidemiology, biostatistics, social statistics, informatics, policy and public health.

Geometric and topological inference deals with the retrieval of information about a geometric object using only a finite set of possibly noisy sample points. It has connections to manifold learning and provides the mathematical and algorithmic foundations of the rapidly evolving field of topological data analysis. Building on a rigorous treatment of simplicial complexes and distance functions, this self-contained book covers key aspects of the field, from data representation and combinatorial questions to manifold reconstruction and persistent homology. It can serve as a textbook for graduate students or researchers in mathematics, computer science and engineering interested in a geometric approach to data science.

Geometric and topological inference deals with the retrieval of information about a geometric object using only a finite set of possibly noisy sample points. It has connections to manifold learning and provides the mathematical and algorithmic foundations of the rapidly evolving field of topological data analysis. Building on a rigorous treatment of simplicial complexes and distance functions, this self-contained book covers key aspects of the field, from data representation and combinatorial questions to manifold reconstruction and persistent homology. It can serve as a textbook for graduate students or researchers in mathematics, computer science and engineering interested in a geometric approach to data science.

Is college worth the cost? Should I worry about arsenic in my rice? Can we recycle pollution? Real questions of personal finance, public health, and social policy require sober, data-driven analyses. This unique text provides students with the tools of quantitative reasoning to answer such questions. The text models how to clarify the question, recognize and avoid bias, isolate relevant factors, gather data, and construct numerical analyses for interpretation. Themes and techniques are repeated across chapters, with a progression in mathematical sophistication over the course of the book, which helps the student get comfortable with the process of thinking in numbers. This textbook includes references to source materials and suggested further reading, making it user-friendly for motivated undergraduate students. The many detailed problems and worked solutions in the text and extensive appendices help the reader learn mathematical areas such as algebra, functions, graphs, and probability. End-of-chapter problem material provides practice for students, and suggested projects are provided with each chapter. A solutions manual is available online for instructors.

The social sciences are becoming datafied. The questions once considered the domain of sociologists are now answered by data scientists operating on large datasets and breaking with methodological tradition, for better or worse. The traditional social sciences, such as sociology or anthropology, are under the double threat of becoming marginalized or even irrelevant, both from new methods of research which require more computational skills and from increasing competition from the corporate world which gains an additional advantage based on data access. However, unlike data scientists, sociologists and anthropologists have a long history of doing qualitative research. The more quantified datasets we have, the more difficult it is to interpret them without adding layers of qualitative interpretation. Big Data therefore needs Thick Data. This book presents the available arsenal of new methods and tools for studying society both quantitatively and qualitatively, opening ground for the social sciences to take the lead in analysing digital behaviour. It shows that Big Data can and should be supplemented and interpreted through thick data as well as cultural analysis. Thick Big Data is critically important for students and researchers in the social sciences to understand the possibilities of digital analysis, both in the quantitative and qualitative area, and to successfully build mixed-methods approaches.

Is college worth the cost? Should I worry about arsenic in my rice? Can we recycle pollution? Real questions of personal finance, public health, and social policy require sober, data-driven analyses. This unique text provides students with the tools of quantitative reasoning to answer such questions. The text models how to clarify the question, recognize and avoid bias, isolate relevant factors, gather data, and construct numerical analyses for interpretation. Themes and techniques are repeated across chapters, with a progression in mathematical sophistication over the course of the book, which helps the student get comfortable with the process of thinking in numbers. This textbook includes references to source materials and suggested further reading, making it user-friendly for motivated undergraduate students. The many detailed problems and worked solutions in the text and extensive appendices help the reader learn mathematical areas such as algebra, functions, graphs, and probability. End-of-chapter problem material provides practice for students, and suggested projects are provided with each chapter. A solutions manual is available online for instructors.

An extensively revised and expanded third edition of the successful textbook on analysis and visualization of social networks integrating theory, applications, and professional software for performing network analysis (Pajek). The main structural concepts and their applications in social research are introduced with exercises. Pajek software and datasets are available, so readers can learn network analysis through application and case studies. In the end readers will have the knowledge, skills, and tools to apply social network analysis across different disciplines. A fundamental redesign of the menu structure and the capability to analyze much larger networks required a new edition. This edition presents several new operations including community detection, generalized main paths searches, new network indices, advanced visualization approaches, and instructions for installing Pajek under MacOSX. This third edition is up-to-date with Pajek version 5 and it introduces PajekXXL for very large networks and Pajek3XL for huge networks.

An extensively revised and expanded third edition of the successful textbook on analysis and visualization of social networks integrating theory, applications, and professional software for performing network analysis (Pajek). The main structural concepts and their applications in social research are introduced with exercises. Pajek software and datasets are available, so readers can learn network analysis through application and case studies. In the end readers will have the knowledge, skills, and tools to apply social network analysis across different disciplines. A fundamental redesign of the menu structure and the capability to analyze much larger networks required a new edition. This edition presents several new operations including community detection, generalized main paths searches, new network indices, advanced visualization approaches, and instructions for installing Pajek under MacOSX. This third edition is up-to-date with Pajek version 5 and it introduces PajekXXL for very large networks and Pajek3XL for huge networks.

Data is humanity's most important new resource. It has the capacity to provide insight into every aspect of our lives, the planet and the universe at large; it changes not only what we know but also how we know it. Exploiting the value of data could improve our existence as much as - if not more than - previous technological revolutions. Yet data without empathy is useless. There is a tendency in data science to forget about the human needs and feelings of the people who make up the data, the people who work with the data, and those expected to understand the results. Without empathy, this precious resource is at best underused, at worst misused. Data: A Guide to Humans will help you understand how to properly exploit data, why this is so important, and how companies and governments are currently using data. It makes a compelling case for empathy as the crucial factor in elevating our understanding of data to something which can make a lasting and essential contribution to your business, your life and maybe even the world.

Data Presentation with SPSS Explained provides students with all the information they need to conduct small scale analysis of research projects using SPSS and present their results appropriately in their reports. Quantitative data can be collected in the form of a questionnaire, survey or experimental study. This book focuses on presenting this data clearly, in the form of tables and graphs, along with creating basic summary statistics. Data Presentation with SPSS Explained uses an example survey that is clearly explained step-by-step throughout the book. This allows readers to follow the procedures, and easily apply each step in the process to their own research and findings. No prior knowledge of statistics or SPSS is assumed, and everything in the book is carefully explained in a helpful and user-friendly way using worked examples. This book is the perfect companion for students from a range of disciplines including psychology, business, communication, education, health, humanities, marketing and nursing - many of whom are unaware that this extremely helpful program is available at their institution for their use.

In an age where customer opinion and feedback can have an immediate, major effect upon the success of a business or organization, marketers must have the ability to analyze unstructured data in everything from social media and internet reviews to customer surveys and phone logs. Practical Text Analytics is an essential daily reference resource, providing real-world guidance on the effective application of text analytics. The book presents the analysis process so that it is immediately understood by the marketing professionals who must use it, so they can apply proven concepts and methods correctly and with confidence. By decoding industry terminology and demonstrating practical application of data models once reserved for experts, Practical Text Analytics shows marketers how to frame the right questions, identify key themes and find hidden meaning from unstructured data. Readers will learn to develop powerful new marketing strategies to elevate customer experience, solidify brand value and elevate reputation. Online resources include self-test questions, chapter review Q&A and an Instructor's Manual with text sources and instructions.