Section 003, Instructor: Ermira Zifla

Weekly Questions

Weekly Question #9: Complete by April 19, 2017

Leave your response as a comment on this post by the beginning of class on April 19, 2017. Remember, it only needs to be three or four sentences. For these weekly questions, I’m mainly interested in your opinions, not so much particular “facts” from the class!

Here is the question:

Think about a data-driven service that you use regularly (i.e., Blackboard, Amazon.com, Facebook). Imagine you want to store the data for that service in a spreadsheet – what would each row in the spreadsheet represent? What would some of the data columns be?

(For example, Yelp.com stores restaurant reviews. A row would be an individual review, and some columns would be the name of the restaurant, the type of food they serve, the address, the star rating, and the name of the reviewer.)

Weekly Question #11: Complete by April 19, 2017

Leave your response to the question below as a comment on this post by the beginning of class on April 19, 2017. It only needs to be three or four sentences.

What was the most important takeaway (from your perspective) from this course? If you had to explain to a future MIS0855 scholar what this course was about, what would you say?

Weekly Question #10: Complete by April 19, 2017

Leave your response as a comment on this post by the beginning of class on April 19, 2017. Remember, it only needs to be three or four sentences. For these weekly questions, I’m mainly interested in your opinions, not so much particular “facts” from the class!

Leave a post about your group project:

  1. What is the subject of your group project?
  2. Which of your fellow scholars are in your group?

Only one group member has to make the post (only one post per group), but for your other group members to get credit they need to be mentioned in the post.

Weekly Question #8: Complete by April 5, 2017

Leave your response as a comment on this post by the beginning of class on April 5, 2017. Remember, it only needs to be three or four sentences. For these weekly questions, I’m mainly interested in your opinions, not so much particular “facts” from the class!

Here is the question:

Once again, find another online article dated within last two weeks from a credible source that has something to do with data and is interesting and relevant to you. Copy and paste the URL directly into your response followed by a few sentences that explain what is interesting about it.

Weekly Question #7: Complete by March 22, 2017

Leave your response as a comment on this post by the beginning of class on March 22, 2017. Remember, it only needs to be three or four sentences. For these weekly questions, I’m mainly interested in your opinions, not so much particular “facts” from the class!

Here is the question:

Give an example of a KPI – some sort of metric for performance – that you use on a regular basis? Briefly discuss how it conforms to the SMART criteria.

(For example, my car tells me its average gas mileage. This is specific and measurable – gas mileage is a precise measure. It is achievable – I can alter my driving to try to get better mileage. It’s relevant – gas mileage has an impact on my costs! And it’s time-variant, I can look at gas mileage over a week, or a day, or a month.)

Weekly Question #6: Complete by March 8, 2017

Leave your response as a comment on this post by the beginning of class on March 8, 2017. Remember, it only needs to be three or four sentences. For these weekly questions, I’m mainly interested in your opinions, not so much particular “facts” from the class!

Answer one of these:

We spent a little time in class discussing the article Stupid Data Corruption Tricks.

  1. Have you ever made one of the mistakes listed in the article? Describe what happened.
  2. If you haven’t made one of those mistakes, which one of them do you think is the most important to avoid?

Weekly Question #5: Complete by March 1, 2017

Leave your response as a comment on this post by the beginning of class on March 1, 2017. Remember, it only needs to be three or four sentences. For these weekly questions, I’m mainly interested in your opinions, not so much particular “facts” from the class!

Here is the question:

Just like you did about a month ago, find another online article dated within last two weeks from a credible source that has something to do with data and is interesting and relevant to you. Copy and paste the URL directly into your response followed by a few sentences that explain what is interesting about it.

Weekly Question #4: Complete by February 15, 2017

Leave your response as a comment on this post by the beginning of class on February 15, 2017. Remember, it only needs to be three or four sentences. For these weekly questions, I’m mainly interested in your opinions, not so much particular “facts” from the class!

Here is the question:

Take a look at the Hoven article from this week (“Stephen Few on Data Visualization: 8 Core Principles”). Which one of the eight principles do you think is most important? Why?

Weekly Question #3: Complete by February 8, 2017

Leave your response as a comment on this post by the beginning of class on February 8, 2017. Remember, it only needs to be three or four sentences. For these weekly questions, I’m mainly interested in your opinions, not so much particular “facts” from the class!

If you sign in using your AccessNet ID and password you won’t have to fill in the name, email and captcha fields when you leave your comment.

In your opinion, what was the most important takeaway from last week’s discussion on bias and the Signal Problem? Give a recent example of how you’ve used data to make a decision, and a hidden (or not so hidden) bias that was likely present when making your decision. Did this result in a signal problem regarding your analysis and decision-making? Describe how you might have counteracted the bias and Signal Problem for your particular circumstance.

Weekly Question #2: Complete by February 3, 2017

Leave your response as a comment on this post by the beginning of class on February 3, 2017. Remember, it only needs to be three or four sentences. For these weekly questions, I’m mainly interested in your opinions, not so much particular “facts” from the class!

If you sign in using your AccessNet ID and password you won’t have to fill in the name, email and captcha fields when you leave your comment.

Here is the question (well, it’s not really a question):

Find a online article dated within last two weeks from a credible source that has something to do with data. It can be about the role of data or an interesting data-driven analysis. It should also be relevant to your major and of interest to you. Copy and paste the URL directly into your response followed by a few sentences that explain what is interesting about it.

You can use any of the sources under the “Great Data Sites” menu on the right sidebar of this page, or you can use any online news or magazine site.

Office Hours
Ermira Zifla (instructor) 10:00am-12:00pm Wednesdays, Speakman Hall 207C or by appointment.
ITA
Prince Patel (ITA) by appointment only. Email: tug04032@temple.edu