Line chart, bar chart, pie chart … they tell different stories
In this information rich age, data visualizations are designed to make the knowledge transfer between deliverers and receivers easier. Therefore, it is crucial for the dashboard creators to know which chart is aligned with the key delivery objectives. On the other hand, having a basic understanding of the underlying meaning of each chart also helps the audience to interpret dashboards effectively. In this article, I introduced a way that may help to better understand some common charts and graphs, e.g. scatter plot, map, pie graph and stacked bar chart etc, by categorising them into four main types: distribution, comparison, composition and correlation. It doesn’t mean that it is a clear-cut solution or a rigid boundary that limits us to only use a chart in one certain way. Rather, it is a conclusion drawn from my experience regarding what is the main objective each chart is able to communicate. Moreover, designing effective dashboards is beyond choosing appropriate charts. …
Sites and blogs that inspire learning.
Learning data science is a long journey, following a rigid course curriculum inevitably makes learning a mundane task. Therefore, I have compiled a list of data science blogs that are able to bring you daily does of inspiration on various domains: AI and Machine Learning, Data Engineering, Data Visualization, and Business Acumen.
I have created an infographic as a summary, feel free to steal it at the end of this article. Additionally, if you are looking for data science podcasts to follow, have a read of the podcast list I collected :).
AI & Machine Learning
1. Towards Data Science
Towards Data Science gathers a large community of professionals who regularly share their innovative projects, career advice as well as advanced educational contents. Towards Data Science covers a wide range of data science topics in-depth, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistics, programming and visualization. Since it currently doesn’t have a standalone website, the best way to get the most out of it is by either subscribing to this channel (e.g. on Medium, Feedly) or sign up to its newsletter. …
Learn left join, inner join, self join using examples
To perform advanced analytical processing and data discovery, one table is often not enough to bring valuable insights, hence combining multiple tables together is unavoidable. SQL, as a tool to communicate with relational database, provides the functionality to build relationships among tables. This article introduces how to use SQL to link tables together. If you want to learn more about the basics of SQL, I suggest have a read of my first article about learning SQL in everyday language. It gives a comprehensive SQL introduction for absolute beginners.
Why We Need to Learn SQL JOIN
Maybe you haven’t even realized, we frequently come across joining in Excel as well. This is achieved by VLOOKUP function as shown below. VLOOKUP function allows us to perform matching of one column and return the corresponding reference values from another column. In this case, we are able to find the country_name related to each criterion by matching the country_code to the fips_code in Country Code table. …
Your Daily Dose of Inspiration When Unmotivated to Learn Data Science
If we only learn data science through a rigid curriculum created by universities or online courses from Coursera or Udemy, we may find the learning process too boring. If you ever find yourself losing motivation in this long journey of studying data science, you may just need some podcasts to break the routine and get some inspiration. The major difference between these two approaches of learning is that the former focuses on theory and concepts, whereas the latter introduces more practical experience and projects that add flesh to the bones.
Listening to podcasts is a great way to absorb knowledge while you are commuting or doing the chores. One of the amazing apps that I recommend using is called “Airr” which allows users to highlight the content of the podcast and transcribe the highlight into notes. This tool is especially useful for technical podcasts since information is more easily erased if you are more of a visual learner than an auditory learner. Therefore, putting it into notes somewhere would assist in transforming them into long term memory. …
SQL is Just Like Excel
What is SQL After All?
SQL stands for “Structured Query Language”, so it is a programming language just like python, java or R. What it differs from most common language is that it is a type of declarative language, which means it tells computers what to do instead of how to do it. As its name suggests, SQL is the language used to communicate with the database for the purpose of requesting and extracting the data we want. Let’s first understand what is a database? …
Solutions to Three Types of Missing Data
Missing data is one of the most common data quality issues among three most common issues: Missing Value, Duplicated Value and Inconsistent Value.
- Missing value is the easiest one to identify, it may be in various forms, e.g. null values, blank space or being represented as “unknown”. Apply a filter to data can make missing values more easily identified.
- Duplicate value occurs when several rows of data appear to be the same then most likely that they have been mistakenly recorded multiple times.
- Inconsistent value usuallyoccurs when the string values of the same attributes do not follow the same naming convention, e.g. both LA and “Los Angeles” are present in the “City” data field (know more about how to address inconsistent data in this…
Four Essential Elements to Increase Conversion Rate
Many people may confused landing page with website home page. The main difference is that all landing pages have a strong intention — “convert”. Convert viewers into buyers, or let me restate it straightforwardly, convert traffic into money. Landing page is a standalone page built for marketing campaigns. Due to this nature, it needs to deliver information more effectively and grab viewers attention more efficiently, compared to other kinds of website pages. So how can we design a landing page that converts better?
Four Essential Elements on a Landing Page
1. Strong CTA
Needless to say, call to action is the most important element of a landing page. Call to action is usually in a form of linked texts or clickable buttons that encourage users to take action. Design of the CTA largely impacts the conversion rate and bounce rate of a landing page. …
Visualization Tools + Learning Resources
Don’t let money become the barrier that stops you from learning whatever you are passionate about. This article introduces some free visualization tools to create dashboards, e.g. Tableau, PowerBI, Google Data Studio ... Additionally, there are many free resources and tutorials that help you to master these tools.
Free Visualization Tools
1. Tableau
WordPress is like Android, Wix is like Apple
If you want a quick answer to the comparison between WordPress and Wix, here it is :). But it is more complicated than this.
Personally, I don’t have any preference for any of these two. Each has distinct pros and cons. Therefore, deciding which one to choose boils down to what is your main purpose of building a website.
In my opinion, WordPress is more like an Android phone. It gives you more customization in terms of functionality. There is a much larger library of plugins and tools that are compatible with WordPress. Conversely, Wix is more like an Apple device. It is minimal and visually appealing. …
step by step guide to unlock your data visualization journey
For all those visual creatures who might be short on budget or simply don’t want to spend unnecessary money.
That’s right, Tableau can be FREE! As long as you can be verified as a full-time student. Even though you might have already graduated, give it a go using your uni email address. It might still work ;)
Step 1: Search “Tableau for Student” in Google
Search “Tableau for Students” and you will find this page.
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