DATA SCIENCE INTRODUCTION

I want to be a data scientist. This is not a decision I came upon overnight and I did not chose this career goal lightly. It came upon months of research (one thing I excel at) and discussion.

But what is a data scientist?

A data scientist is someone who sifts through massive amounts of data using an algorithm in order to form a prediction or cause to a problem or question.

I came upon a quote I really liked that summed it up in an incredibly general way:

A data scientist is better at statistics than any software engineer and better at software engineering than any statistician.

I realize that’s not the end all be all description, but I do think it gives you a pretty good idea of the skills required by that profession and why I put off studying for so long after deciding it was what I wanted to do.

Data science is a catchy title and one many in the field do not like. It sounds cool and sexy, but it involves an immense amount of programming, statistics, analysis, mathematics, etc. I happen to love the name, but I understand why many don’t.

Why do I want to be a data scientist?

My background is far from this field. I have no knowledge of computer programming or software engineering, and I have all but forgotten all of the math and statistics I learned in college. In fact, I was a criminal justice major. That major is closer to an English degree than it is to computer science (I wrote more papers in CJ than I did in my English classes).

I wanted to be an investigator with federal law enforcement. I wanted to help people and catch criminals.

Fast forward many years. I have never done anything remotely related to my degree. I found (and secretly knew all along, but I was too stubborn to admit it) that I would need to begin as a police officer before I could become a detective and then a federal special agent. As much as I respect policer officers, I did not want to be one. I applied to countless state and federal jobs, but with only a degree and no experience, I was never considered.

I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t have hired me either. After that, I was lost career wise. I was working a job I was unhappy with and unsure where to go with my life.

All I knew was that I wanted to do something that would make a difference in the world and help people, but I wasn’t sure what that was.

My desire to do something life changing caused me to make quite a few mistakes. One of which was quit an actually decent job at a place I had worked for many years.

It wasn’t until a few years later that I discovered the field of data science. It is an incredibly broad field, used by companies for everything from calculating insurance quotes to optimizing search engines. Stubborn Barry will come back and say I do not wish to do those jobs specifically, although I would do so to gain valuable experience (once I am sufficiently trained, which I am nowhere close to yet).

Ultimately, I still want to do something that will help people. There are so many companies doing pretty amazing things with data science that are really changing the world. I read a study a while back that used two years of Twitter tweets, eliminating posts like “I just ate a dank burger, raise the roof yo!”, and analyzing the data to actually predict behavior (such as in a crisis or big event). I think that was my first real exposure to big data, which is the collection of monstrous amounts of data and using an algorithm to analyze it into useful information. This is one of the major functions of a data scientist.

I thought that was amazing and the possibilities are endless. The number of things being done with it isn’t slowing down, from getting healthcare to third world countries to spreading free education around the world to personalizing cancer treatment and so much more.

I’ll be honest. I don’t know if I’ll ever have the skills necessary to become a data scientist. But that isn’t going to stop me. This journal will be my educational journey to become a data scientist through online courses and studies.

Sadly, since it has been so long since studying any kind of math, I will be starting at a pretty basic level. Hopefully I will be able to learn quickly and progress through my studies, and you can follow along with me. If anyone else is interested, perhaps you can join me, or see where I am making mistakes and chose a wiser path.

I’m using the image above from DataCamp as a rough guide, beginning with the math track from Khan Academy.

Basically, from everything I have read, I need to become proficient in linear algebra (not to be confused with regular algebra) before I can begin any type of programming courses. The math portion will take a considerable amount of time since I am starting at algebra I as a refresher, which I am nearly finished with. I got up to calculus in college but I remember nothing so I want to start with basic principles to make sure I don’t get lost in advanced mathematics.

I hope you enjoy this journal. I like to see it as a self-betterment journey and I hope if nothing else you become inspired to follow your own dreams and aspire to better things.

Thanks for reading!