Decisions
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Being able to store and analyze lots of data has opened up entirely new possibilities of making intelligent decisions.
Reliable
All of the available data helps improve processes like decision making and prediction.
What do you think benefits most from big data?
- Statistically reliable decision making
Exactly. Thanks to big data it's now easier to back up decisions with facts, instead of intuition.
Examples
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Let's take a look at some simplified examples.
Video streaming
Based on this data, which is the best recommendation for the next movie on this video streaming platform?
category: Comedy liked: Yes category: Comedy liked: Yes category: Horror liked: No Next up: Comedy
//Output Below
Hot Fuzz is up next!
Exactly! This type of recommendation would've been challenging to achieve without recording users' watching habits.
Real time
In this ride-sharing app, what would be the optimal location to push more drivers too?
{
"request": "6 passengers",
"location": [City center]
}
{
"request": "2 passengers",
"location": [Habour]
}
{
"request": "2 passengers",
"location": [City center]
}- City Center
Exactly! Without recording the location and number of passengers, it'd be difficult to meet demand.
Real predictions
Unfortunately, data doesn't always paint a clear and actionable picture.
category:Comedy liked: Yes category:Thriller liked: Yes category:Romance liked: Yes category:Comedy liked: No category:Thriller liked: No category:Romance liked: Yes Next up: ?
//Output Below
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Isn't it much more difficult to recommend a category based on this data?
Business intelligence
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Different analytical methods can help unlock patterns and allow for predictions using big data.
Analytic types
Big data analytics can be broken down into three broad categories.
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They can be descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics.
Descriptive
Descriptive big data analytics uses past data to help describe the current and past state of things.
It includes statistic calculations like averages, medians, and totals.
Lifetime value: 40.00 Lifetime value: 50.00 Lifetime value: 60.00 Average value: 50.00
Big data helps descriptive analytics paint a more accurate picture and is often used in the construction of analytics dashboards.
Predictive
Predictive big data analytics help figuring out what will happen next.
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This type of analytics uses algorithms and historical data to make decisions about probable behavior in the future.
Prescriptive
Prescriptive analytics help to understand what might happen in different scenarios.
Let's outline the basic steps involved in prescriptive analytics.
- Analyze outcome of first scenario
- Analyze outcome of second scenario
- Decide on best scenario to proceed with
Exactly! That's the basic concept behind prescriptive analytics.
Problems
Big data isn't without its problems though.
Working with such large amounts of data might lead to wrong assumptions and biased decisions.
Confirmation bias
Confirmation bias is the tendency to interpret information in a way that confirms a pre-existing hypothesis.
What do you think is likely to contribute to confirmation bias?
- Looking at a subset of the data
Exactly. Looking at only subsets of data may contribute to confirmation bias.
Larger Bias
Only looking at data might also lead to more substantial biases.
Areas like healthcare, finance, and education can be negatively affected by unfair data confirmation biases.
Availability
The availability heuristic is another bias in which the most recent or available data is believed to be the most important.
Can you guess what could likely contribute to this problem?
- A recently read newspaper
Alright! Recently received data is more likely to be perceived as important when compared to older data.
Misuse
Securing big data is another concern. Unauthorized parties can exploit large datasets for personal gain.
What sources do you think might be susceptible to exploitation?
- Social media data
Exactly. Social media sites record lots of personal information, which might be susceptible to exploitation.