Usable vs Useful Data Not all data are

Usable vs. Useful Data Not all data are created equal

What is data? • Data are a mass collection of information • Data can be: – Numbers (e. g. grade percentages) – Addresses – Photographs – Text (e. g. stories) – Binary code – Pretty much anything! • However, not all data are usable or useful 2

Definitions Usable Data: Data that can be feasibly collected analyzed. Useful Data: Data that can be collected analyzed to solve a problem. All useful data is also usable. Why? 3

Usable Data Can these data be collected? …realistically analyzed? Data to be collected/analyzed Usable? Demographics of all people in the United States (including, age, Click to uncover race, income, citizenship status, etc. ) YES Demographics of all people on the planet (including, age, race, Click to citizenship uncover status, etc. ) income, NO Shoe size of every patron that walks into any Walmart NO Every transaction processed by every patron at all Walmarts YES Click to uncover 4

Useful Examples Is there any reason why you would even want to collect or analyze these data? Does they answer any questions or allow you to make predictions? This is somewhat subjective. Be prepared to defend your answers! En garde! 5

Are these useful? 1. Heights of adults and their locations in the world 2. Logging all texts sent on all cell phones in the country Might these be useful, and why? 6

On a scale Data Collection Usefulness Usability A) Data from the GPS unit in your phone (for 1 year in 1 second intervals) B) Data from all GPS units in all phones around the world (for 1 year in 1 second intervals) 7

On a scale Data Collection Usefulness Usability A) Whale sightings tagged with day of week (Sunday, Monday, etc. ) B) Whale sightings tagged with location and date/time 8