Getting Started with Data Science
Novemember 2017
http://bit.ly/data-science-sd
Deskhub-main - stake2017!

Jordan Zurowski
Thinkful Community Manager
MA in Industrial/Organizational
Psychology
About me

About you
You already have a career in data
I'm interested in switching into a data career
I just want to see what all the fuss is about

About Thinkful
Thinkful helps people become developers or data
scientists through 1-on-1 mentorship and project-based
learning
These workshops are built using this approach.

Today's Goals
What is Data Science?
How and why has the field emerged?
What do they do?
Next steps

Example: LinkedIn 2006
“[LinkedIn] was like arriving at a conference
reception and realizing you don’t know
anyone. So you just stand in the corner
sipping your drink—and you probably leave
early.”
-LinkedIn Manager, June 2006

Enter: Data Scientist
Jonathan Goldman
Joined LinkedIn in 2006, only
8M users (450M in 2016)
Started experiments to predict
people’s networks
Engineers were dismissive: “you
can already import your
address book”

The Result

Other Examples
Uber — Where drivers should hang out
Tala — Microfinance loan approval

Why now?
Big Data: datasets whose size is
beyond the ability of typical database
software tools to capture, store,
manage, and analyze

Brief history of "big data"
Trend "started" in 2005
Web 2.0 - Majority of content is created
by users
Mobile accelerates this — data/person
skyrockets

Big Data
90% of the data in the world
today has been created in the
last two years alone
- IBM, May 2013

The Problem

The Solution

Data Scientists - Jack of All Trades

Data Science is just the beginning
“The United States alone faces a shortage
of 140,000 to 190,000 people with deep
analytical skills as well as 1.5 million
managers and analysts to analyze big
data and make decisions based on their
findings.”
- McKinsey

The Process - LinkedIn Example
Frame the question
Collect the raw data
Process the data
Explore the data
Communicate results

Case: Frame the Question
What questions do we want to answer?

Case: Frame the Question
What connections (type and number) lead to
higher user engagement?
Which connections do people want to make
but are currently limited from making?
How might we predict these types of
connections with limited data from the user?

Case: Collect the Data
What data do we need to answer these
questions?

Case: Collect the Data
Connection data (who is who connected to?)
Demographic data (what is the profile of the
connection)
Engagement data (how do they use the site)

Case: Process the Data
How is the data “dirty” and how can we clean
it?

Case: Process the Data
User input
Redundancies
Feature changes
Data model changes

Case: Explore the Data
What are the meaningful patterns in the
data?

Case: Explore the Data
Triangle closing
Time overlaps
Geographic overlaps

Case: Communicate Findings
How do we communicate this? To whom?

Case: Communicate Findings
“People You Know” feature increased
clickthrough by 30% (generating X million
more page views)

Tools
SQL Queries
Business Analytics Software
Machine Learning Algorithms

#1 SQL Queries
SQL is the standard querying language
to access and manipulate databases

#1 SQL Queries
SELECT full_name FROM friends WHERE age>22

#2: Visualization Software
Business analytics software for your database
enabling you to easily find and communicate
insights visually

#2: Visualization Software

#3: Machine Learning Algorithms
Machine learning algorithms provide
computers with the ability to learn
without being explicitly programmed —
“programming by example”

Iris Data Set

Iris Data Set

Iris Data Set

Use Cases for Machine Learning
Classification — Predict categories
Regression — Predict values Anomaly
Fraud Detection — Find unusual occurrences
Clustering — Discover structure

It may seem like a daunting opportunity

But if you're interested...
Knowledge of statistics, algorithms, &
software
Comfort with languages & tools (Python,
SQL, Tableau)
Inquisitiveness and intellectual curiosity
Strong communication skills
It’s all Teachable!

Ways to keep learning

For aspiring developers, bootcamps fill the gap
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

92%of grads placed in full-time tech jobs
job guarantee
Link for the third party audit jobs report:
https://www.thinkful.com/bootcamp-jobs-stats
Thinkful's track record of getting students jobs

Our students receive unprecedented support
1-on-1 Learning Mentor
1-on-1 Career MentorProgram Manager
San Diego Community
You

1-on-1 mentorship enables flexible learning
Learn anywhere,
anytime, and at your
own schedule
You don't have to quit
your job to start career
transition

Try us out!
Learn Python, Python’s
data science toolkit,
Statistics intro.
Initial 3-week prep course
includes nine mentor
sessions for $250.
Option to continue onto
Data Science bootcamp
Talk to me (or email
jordan@thinkful.com) if
you’re interested