Month: November 2018

Buzzwords & Bullsh!t: Data Driven…Anything

Evan Bumann, 11/30/18

“Data-driven ______”. Fill in the blank with just about anything relevant to today’s societal events and chances are a Google search will turn up at least a few thousand examples of whatever it is you typed in. Much like other current business buzzwords (“big data”, anyone?), I see one phrase used far more often than necessary, and far too frequently in a way which is more or less redundant. “Data-driven analytics” and “data-driven decision-making” are two terms which immediately come to mind. The concept of using empirical information to make decisions is not brand new, though in present-day society... Read More >

Buzzwords & Bullsh!t: Statistical Significance

Isaac Freitas, 11/16/18

What’s the difference between the right amount of ketchup on a burger and too much or too little? One might think they could just eyeball what is right, but when it comes to large quantities of burgers, a specific measurable process would be needed to define what is or is not abnormal.  For those of us not making hamburgers, the same principles apply to figuring out whether a difference in any two or more groups is statistically significant.  These principles can be applied in any industry including the adult beverage industry where the origins of statistical significance found root. ... Read More >

Buzzwords & Bullsh!t: Machine Learning

Jason Adams, 11/2/18

“In the Big Rock Candy Mountains, there’s a land that’s fair and bright….” In this song about a distant, magical place, not only is the land fair and bright, but it never rains or snows, the wind is never blowing, eggs come out of hens already soft-boiled, work never has to be done, and, among other nice things, people are free to do whatever they want there. While the song is clearly fictional, there is a Big Rock Candy Mountain of sorts that exists in the minds of many people involved in data analysis. In this “place,” every question... Read More >