Fun Data Analysis
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Comments posted to this topic are about the item Fun Data Analysis
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A common mistake is to plot data onto a map without normalizing the data first.
This basically just plots a population map.
This XKCD cartoon explains it better than I ever can 😀
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My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP -
I'm not sure your link is right Steve. It takes me to a Beth Schultz article about Big Data and Analytics.
On two occasions I have been asked, "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?" ... I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.
—Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a PhilosopherHow to post a question to get the most help http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537
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Working in the insurance industry there are numerous places where data can be misinterpreted, fortunately it doesn't happen often.
On one occassion, campaign code analysis resulted in a business partner targeting a specific marketing campaign with much greater success than expected, providing our Contact Centre with 150% of the predicted call volumes. As a result, the longer waiting times made that campaign's performance look poor on the following month because the sales rates were lower than usual for that campaign code (customers who have been waiting on hold can be a tough sale). The fact of the matter was that the marketting campaign was hugely successful delivering many potential clients but some of the statistics looked bad a result of the challenges involved in handling call volume.
As an industry though we are accustomed to interpreting the granular detail of data and looking past the face of a printed stats report. This particular marketing campaign is still a great source of business for us, it's just used more carefully these days to ensure our call volumes are managable and we can provide a good service to all of our customers.
Either that or the results of our mistakes are well hidden. When a premium is calculated on 50+ different rules, all driven by statistics and data interpretation, the impact 1 mistake will have on a quoted premium is generally going to be fairly small. Or if an edge case is triggered and we quote someone £2000 instead of £200, well that won't happen to many customers so again the overall impact to the business will be small.
We often have big challenges, such as EU law making us take gender out of our premium calculation - this was probably the single biggest risk factor involved in insurance calculations (especially life, medical and motor) as statistically it has one of the biggest impact on claim costs and frequency. The fact that the entire UK insurance market was able to take this out of the calculations without bringing the market to it's knees and ruining companies is testament to how well data is interpreted in this industry.
I guess it's just a matter of practise and training. If a small company asks your regular techy DBA to provide them with in-depth statistics and information analysis to base their business plans on you're going to have more mistakes than when a big company with a team of business intelligence analysts and actuarial statisticians are on the case.
Ben
^ Thats me!
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The article by Beth Schultz was of some interest, but I certainly wouldn't call it a fun look at statistics. Is this the right link?
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I'm doing some analysis right now looking at our fleet and examining the data from our tracking devices to see if I can correlate it to motor vehicle accidents. There's 2 types of trackers - one can measure hard braking and acceleration, the other can't. It looks like trucks that have the older trackers have ~1/3 the accident rate of the ones with the newer ones. I can think of a few reasons why, but I would just like to present this data as-is and wait for someone to suggest we replace the newer tracking devices with the older model to improve safety.
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Ian Massi (10/10/2014)
I'm doing some analysis right now looking at our fleet and examining the data from our tracking devices to see if I can correlate it to motor vehicle accidents. There's 2 types of trackers - one can measure hard braking and acceleration, the other can't. It looks like trucks that have the older trackers have ~1/3 the accident rate of the ones with the newer ones. I can think of a few reasons why, but I would just like to present this data as-is and wait for someone to suggest we replace the newer tracking devices with the older model to improve safety.Brilliant 🙂 I'm guessing the newer more advanced trackers get fitted to the vehicles driven by the least experienced drivers?
Ben
^ Thats me!
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BenWard (10/10/2014)
Ian Massi (10/10/2014)
I'm doing some analysis right now looking at our fleet and examining the data from our tracking devices to see if I can correlate it to motor vehicle accidents. There's 2 types of trackers - one can measure hard braking and acceleration, the other can't. It looks like trucks that have the older trackers have ~1/3 the accident rate of the ones with the newer ones. I can think of a few reasons why, but I would just like to present this data as-is and wait for someone to suggest we replace the newer tracking devices with the older model to improve safety.Brilliant 🙂 I'm guessing the newer more advanced trackers get fitted to the vehicles driven by the least experienced drivers?
Our fleet is split into 2, some drivers are assigned a truck to take home, the others are assigned a truck from a garage that they have to pick up and drop off at the end of the day. The truck can change from day to day. Also, having one assigned to take home is a privilege permitted the more experienced employees... so yes 😀
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In the early nineties a client of the company I worked for did a little bit of analysis of their sales data for marketing purposes. The company ran a single shop but the bulk (no pun intended - you'll see) of their sales was via mail order. They specialised in large/oversized [their term, not mine] clothing for gentlemen.
After the person that did a bit of analysis (employee of the client, not the company I worked for) announced that their customer base was almost entirely comprised of men in the 55-65 age range the MD scoffed at the effort in performing the analysis to highlight what he already knew. In fact, what we all knew including the chap performing the analysis.
I guess the skill is knowing how to find patterns of interest as opposed to just any old pattern.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
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Speaking of research studies with questionable cause and effect, I see this type of thing all the time on the morning news shows. Below is a good example.
How where you sit in a restaurant can cut the calories you consume [???]
The book describes 'simple actions you can take to become permanently slimmer without really working at it.'
Those seated at a dark table or booth ate heavier food and ordered more of it, while diners seated at high-top bar tables ordered more salads and fewer desserts.
73 per cent of slim diners faced away from the buffet while overweight diners were three times more likely to sit facing the buffet.
And if there are TV sets in the restaurant, steer clear. Professor Wansink found that the closer a table was to a screen, the more fried food the diners ordered.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
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Eric M Russell (10/10/2014)
Speaking of research studies with questionable cause and effect, I see this type of thing all the time on the morning news shows. Below is a good example.How where you sit in a restaurant can cut the calories you consume [???]
The book describes 'simple actions you can take to become permanently slimmer without really working at it.'
Those seated at a dark table or booth ate heavier food and ordered more of it, while diners seated at high-top bar tables ordered more salads and fewer desserts.
73 per cent of slim diners faced away from the buffet while overweight diners were three times more likely to sit facing the buffet.
And if there are TV sets in the restaurant, steer clear. Professor Wansink found that the closer a table was to a screen, the more fried food the diners ordered.
But it's in the Daily Mail, it must be true. Are you suggesting that what they publish may not be entirely accurate. My whole belief system and catalogue of mistrust and irrational fear is based on them.
On two occasions I have been asked, "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?" ... I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.
—Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a PhilosopherHow to post a question to get the most help http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537
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BWFC (10/10/2014)
...But it's in the Daily Mail, it must be true. Are you suggesting that what they publish may not be entirely accurate. My whole belief system and catalogue of mistrust and irrational fear is based on them.I am not sure that anyone outside of the UK (ex-pats excluded) that will understand the drive behind your sarcasm drenched quip 😉
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
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Eric M Russell (10/10/2014)
Speaking of research studies with questionable cause and effect, I see this type of thing all the time on the morning news shows. Below is a good example.We had something similar in our national news as well. A study found that eating 1 or 2 fruits/vegetables a day is not enough.
You only get real healthier and live longer when you eat like 4, 5 or more portions a day a study found (at least double for what is currently recommended).
But maybe people who eat a lot of fruit/vegetables like that also have other healthy habits, such as exercising, not smoking, no excessive drinking, ...?
Need an answer? No, you need a question
My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP -
Koen Verbeeck (10/10/2014)
Eric M Russell (10/10/2014)
Speaking of research studies with questionable cause and effect, I see this type of thing all the time on the morning news shows. Below is a good example.We had something similar in our national news as well. A study found that eating 1 or 2 fruits/vegetables a day is not enough.
You only get real healthier and live longer when you eat like 4, 5 or more portions a day a study found (at least double for what is currently recommended).
But maybe people who eat a lot of fruit/vegetables like that also have other healthy habits, such as exercising, not smoking, no excessive drinking, ...?
More to the point people who eats lots of fruit and veg usually do so instead of unhelthy food. Eating 5 portions of veg at tea time does you no good if you still have a KFC big daddy box meal for dinner every day.
Reminds me... a friend of mine works in a pharmacy. He had a distressingly obese customer purchase a large supply of slimfast shakes - 1 week later she came back to the shop for a refund. Apparently she had gained almost a stone (14lb?) in the week having not realised that they were inteded to replace meals, not supplement them.
Ben
^ Thats me!
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BWFC (10/10/2014)
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But it's in the Daily Mail, it must be true. Are you suggesting that what they publish may not be entirely accurate. My whole belief system and catalogue of mistrust and irrational fear is based on them.
Your UK Daily Mail can't compete with our own Huffinton Post when it comes to publishing hard hitting in-depth news stories like 'Top 10 Things Never To Do While Sitting on the Toilet' or sending an investigative reporter out in the field to capture exclusive never before seen photos of Kim Kardashian's Phat Bum. 🙂
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
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