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Sem 5 Prep
← BI & Data ScienceWhat business intelligence and data science are

Formulas for this chapter

Mean of a column

mean = SUM(values) / n Excel: =AVERAGE(range)

Turning raw data into information, the second rung of the DIKW ladder. Always check the answer lies between the smallest and largest values.

SUM(values)
Total of every observation
n
Number of observations

Growth and uplift percentage

growth % = (later - earlier) / earlier x 100

Comparing two periods or two groups. The denominator is always the figure you are comparing against; swapping it changes the answer.

later
Value of the newer period or the group being described
earlier
Value of the base period or the reference group
Step 3 of 25
The real wordsTheory

And data science

Data scienceAn interdisciplinary field that combines mathematics, statistics, computer science and domain knowledge to extract meaningful insights from structured and unstructured data.

Four ingredients, and the fourth is the one people forget. Without domain knowledge you cannot tell a real pattern from a coincidence.

Rough split: BI is the reporting machinery that tells you what happened. Data science is the modelling that tells you what will happen and what to do.

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