Beware of Spurious Correlations
Here’s the site we discussed in today’s class, Spurious Correlations. Poke around and see what you can find. Great for conversation starters!
More Open Data examples on the Internet
In class we talked about a few examples of open data. Here are some others you might want to check out throughout the course. Consider how having these data sets freely available to the public might transform various industries:
- Business: data.gov’s “Impact” section
- Science: The Genomes Unzipped project
- Government: New York City parking violations
- Journalism: Swarmize
Reading Quiz #3: Complete by September 19, 2016
Some quick instructions:
- You must complete the quiz by the start of class on September 19, 2016. The quiz is based on the readings for the whole week.
- When you click on the link, you may see a Google sign in screen. Use your AccessNet ID and password to sign in. It will then take you to the quiz.
If it says you don’t have access, make sure you’re signed out of your regular Gmail (non-TUMail) account! - You can only do the quiz once. If you submit multiple times, I’ll only use the first (oldest) one.
- This is “open book” – you can use the articles to answer the questions – but do not get help from anyone else.
Ready? Take the quiz by clicking this link.
In-Class Exercise 2.2: Finding Sources of Data
Here is the exercise.
As discussed in class today, please comment on this post with the following:
- What dataset did you find
- Where did you find it
- Why did you think it was interesting
- What did you learn from the data
- How could you use the data or what decisions could you make based on it
Comments are due by 7:59am Wednesday, September 14, 2016.
Data Dictionary assignment
Class,
For the “Building a Data Dictionary” exercise that I asked you on Friday to do over the weekend, here’s some additional detail we didn’t have time to cover in the classroom:
1) A data dictionary is another component of metadata.
2) It’s a metadata repository, that catalogs all the details pertaining to the metadata.
3) Cataloging your metadata in a data dictionary will make both your life, and that of anyone else using this spreadsheet, much easier!
4) So, your assignment is to practice interpreting the metadata for the spreadsheet, and create a data dictionary for the exercise spreadsheet.
5) Remember, metadata is data about data. So you are not cataloging any data about cars themselves, only the data related to the fields used to describe the cars.
If you have any questions as you work through the exercise, email me and I’ll point you in the right direction.
Professor Pote
Email Metadata Website
Here’s the website we talked about in class today. Give it a try, see what you can learn about yourself from your own email metadata!
https://immersion.media.mit.edu/
Weekly Question #2: Complete by September 14, 2016
Leave your response as a comment on this post by the beginning of class on September 14, 2016. 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.
In-Class Exercise 2.1: Creating a Data Dictionary
Here is the exercise.
And here is the spreadsheet you’ll need [In-Class Exercise 2.1 – 2015 Car Fuel Econ [Start]].
And here is the completed data dictionary for your reference In-Class Exercise 2.1 – 2015 Car Fuel Econ [Complete]
Assignment 1: Creating a Data Analysis Plan
Here are the instructions in word (and as a PDF). Make sure you read them carefully!
When your assignment is complete, you’re going to email the document to me in .docx or .pdf format at MIS0855.1ptopenatj1r90sy@u.box.com from your Temple email account. If your upload is successful, you’ll receive a confirmation receipt via email from the Temple OwlBox system. SAVE THIS RECEIPT! It is your proof that your submission was submitted, the name of the document, and the time/date of submission.
If you don’t receive a confirmation email, it likely means your submission was not successful. Try again, and contact me if you’re having recurrent issues.
Your assignment must be submitted by 7:59am, September 19, 2016 to be on time. You can always check the Syllabus for Assignment due dates. Remember, and this is also in the Syllabus:
“Late Deliverable Policy
A deliverable (assignment, weekly question response, or online quiz) is considered late if it is submitted after the beginning of class. No late deliverables will be accepted without penalty, and equipment failure is not an acceptable reason for turning in a deliverable late.
All assignments will be assessed a 20% penalty (subtracted from that assignment’s score) each day they are late. No credit will be given for assignments turned in more than three days past the due date. However, you must submit all assignments, even if no credit is given. If you skip an assignment, an additional 10 points will be subtracted from your final grade in the course. For example, if you do not turn in an assignment worth 5% of the course grade, you will receive no credit for that assignment plus a 10 point penalty, reducing your maximum grade in the course to an 85.”
Reading Quiz #2: Complete by September 12, 2016
Some quick instructions:
- You must complete the quiz by the start of class on September 12, 2016. The quiz is based on the readings for the whole week.
- When you click on the link, you may see a Google sign in screen. Use your AccessNet ID and password to sign in. It will then take you to the quiz.
If it says you don’t have access, make sure you’re signed out of your regular Gmail (non-TUMail) account! - You can only do the quiz once. If you submit multiple times, I’ll only use the first (oldest) one.
- This is “open book” – you can use the articles to answer the questions – but do not get help from anyone else.
Ready? Take the quiz by clicking this link.