I enjoy reading ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ผ๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐ต๐ but I hadnโt seen these combined in a single book/paper until I came across Zoltan Varjuโs compilation. And Iโve been thoroughly enjoying it! ๐ข๐ป๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป (๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐๐๐ s๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐) ๐ถ๐ ๐ด๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ธ๐ถ๐น๐น๐.
The road to conclusions is paved with innumerable decisions. To list a few:
- ๐ selecting the analysis approach
- ๐ designing the feature set - variables, aggregation levels, handling inter-feature relations
- ๐ whether to scale/normalize/weigh features & how
- ๐ how to effectively validate results
- ๐ identifying impactful improvements
- ๐ how to future-proof the model to update with new data
& so on.
Each decision branches into more choices, but you get the idea.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด, ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ, ๐ถ๐ t๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป.
Lights, camera, enter: Philosophy ๐ง
How does an analyst factor uncertainty? What assumptions do we make to model real world behaviour? How do we draw conclusions from imperfect models? ๐๐น๐น ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ-๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐.
I discovered two brilliant terms that Box aptly calls โpathologiesโ:
- ๐งฎ Cookbookery: mindless application of statistical techniques - a plague in todayโs data science community.
- ๐งฎ Mathemastery: theory for theoryโs sake without practical application.
Theory and practice must always inform each other for genuine progress.
๐๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ, ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป + ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ธ๐ถ๐น๐น๐. ๐๐๐ธ:
- H๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐?
- W๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐บ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น?
- W๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ (๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐) ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ?
And, if you like reading, pick a few books from this shelf for deeper exploration.