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What Is Data Science? A Comprehensive Guide

12 Oct 2022
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Introduction

Data Science is the buzzword of the 21st Century, which is why you landed here. Right? Data science has become an increasingly important field in recent years due to the growth of big data. As businesses are collecting more data than ever before, there is an increasing demand for Data Scientists who can analyze and make the data intelligent, insightful, and useful.

A lot of people believe that data science is all about statistics and mathematics, but it's actually much more than that. Data science also involves programming, data visualization, machine learning, and deep learning. Data science uses scientific methods, processes, algorithms, and systems to extract knowledge and insights from data in both structured and unstructured forms. It also involves programming, data visualization, machine learning, and deep learning.

Are you thinking about pursuing a career in data science? Or are you already working in the field? This guide will give you a comprehensive overview of everything you need to know about Data Science, right from its meaning to the different roles, the process involved, and its components. So, let's begin with what is Data Science:

What is Data Science?

Data science is a multi-disciplinary field that combines techniques from statistics, computer science, and machine learning to make sense of data. It is the process of extracting insights from data. It involves using scientific methods, algorithms, and techniques to analyze data and interrogate it for hidden patterns, trends, and associations. The findings from data science can then be used for decision-making, drive business value, and solve significant problems.



However, many elements come under data science, and these elements are sometimes confused or utilized interchangeably. Let's start by listing these terms and attempting to comprehend them. The following are the essential components of data science:

The Fundamental Components of Data Science

The fundamental components of data science are:

Big Data: Big Data is the collection and processing of any data that is large in volume, arrives at a high rate or has a stable structure.

Data Mining: Data mining is the process of uncovering hidden patterns in organized data and revealing hidden information from it. It is focused on extracting useful information from large data sets.

Data Analytics: Data analytics is a procedure that follows data mining. Data analytics defines the sort of analysis to be conducted and the context in which data mining techniques will be used.

Data Analysis: In general terms, Data Analysis is a method of extracting insights from raw data by formulating hypotheses and demonstrating them with statistical tests.

Data Science: It defines the process of comprehending a business challenge in order to provide a solution.

Machine Learning: It is a data analytics tool that is used to predict or find a hidden piece of information in data. For instance, predicting an organization's attrition rate or whether an employee will stay for long in the organization or will quit, it can be done with Machine Learning.

Predictive Modeling: Predictive Modeling is used to build models that can make predictions about future events.

There are also many other lesser-known fields, such as natural language processing, image recognition, and time series analysis. However, each field of data science has its own unique challenges and opportunities.

How does Data Science Work? What are the Steps of Data Science?

Data science is the process of extracting insights from data. The following steps are involved in the Data Science process:

1) Identify The Problems or Business Requirements

The first step is identifying the Business Requirements. To start with the Data Science process, you first need to determine your business problem and the answers you're looking for.

2) Obtaining The Data

Here at this stage, the data is collected that is relevant to the problem or the business requirements. You need to collect data from any sources, be it internal or external. The data can be in any form - text, images, videos, audios, census datasets, and so on. It is a crucial step as it helps you to answer your Business Question or requirements.

3) Data Cleaning

You need to be very careful at this stage because there are chances that unnecessary data gets collected, which increases the complexity of the process. Also, there are high chances of duplication of data and missing data. So it requires Data Cleaning. Hence, at this stage, all the unnecessary data is removed. Remember, your predictions will be better if your data is clean.

4) Data Visualization

Data Visualization is the analysis stage. At this stage, the data is converted into graphical representation form to make a huge amount of data easily understandable. Trends, outliers, and patterns in data may all be easily recognized and understood using data visualization tools. It's time for Data Modelling on the data after you've cleaned and organized it.

5) Data Modelling

It includes building an algorithm and a model based on all the previous data available. You can choose the techniques and methods for drawing links between variables here. These links will serve as the foundation for the computations that you will perform in the next stage.

6) Data Validation

This stage involves the testing of the model. The algorithm and model get tested with new data that is inserted into the algorithm. Based on the model's inputs, you may determine if the project's results are a success or a failure. So, was the series of well-defined steps that Data science involves to solve the business problem. Now let's have a look at different Data Science Jobs Roles:

Different Roles In The Data Science

In the data science field, there are a variety of professions to choose from, all of which are in high demand. These jobs deal with data in some way, but they differ from one another depending on what you do with it. Data Science job titles include:

The Data Scientist

Data Scientist masters a wide range of skills and abilities, including the ability to handle raw data, analyze it using statistical approaches and discuss the findings with their peers convincingly. It's no surprise that there is high demand for Data Scientists in MAANG companies.

The Data Analyst

A Data Analyst is an expert in languages such as R, Python, SQL, and C. The primary role is to gather, process, and analyze statistical data. A data analyst is in charge of analyzing large amounts of data. They'll look for patterns, correlations, and trends in the data. Later, he or she will provide compelling reporting and visualization so that the data can be analyzed and the best business decisions can be made.

The Data Engineer

A Data Engineer's job entails dealing with vast amounts of data. They create, construct, test, and maintain large-scale processing systems and databases, among other things.

The Data Architect

Well, with rising of big data, the role of the data architect is becoming increasingly important. They draw up the plans for data management systems that will integrate, centralize, safeguard, and preserve data sources. The data architect is an expert in technologies such as Hive, Pig, and Spark and must keep up with every new development in the field.

The Data Statistician

Using statistical theories and procedures, the statistician collects, analyzes, and comprehends qualitative and quantitative data.

The Machine Learning Engineer

A machine learning engineer's goal is to create artificial intelligence. They're computer programmers, but they're interested in more than just programming machines to accomplish certain jobs. They write programs that allow machines to accomplish tasks without being specifically instructed to do so.

The Business Analyst

Although business analyst is less technically oriented, they compensate for this with a thorough understanding of the various business processes. They have mastered the art of connecting data findings to practical business insights and are able to communicate the message across the entire organization through storytelling tactics.

Tools For Data Science

Data science is a field that relies heavily on tools and technologies for storing, processing, and visualizing data. Some of the most popular tools are:

What Is The Future Of Data Science?

Data science is a rapidly growing field with immense potential. With the ever-increasing amount of data being generated, businesses are starting to realize the importance of data and the insights it can provide. In the future, data science will become even more important as we learn to mine larger and more complex data sets.

We will also see a rise in the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate tasks and make decision-making quick and easy.

Conclusion

Data science is a field that is rapidly growing in popularity. It involves using data to make informed decisions and predictions. This blog provides a comprehensive guide to data science. If you are passionate about becoming a Data Scientist, enroll in Data Scientist Masters Program with Fingertips now.

About the Author

 fingertips Fingertips

Fingertips is one of India's leading learning platforms, enabling aspirants - working professionals, and students to enhance competitive skills and thrive in their careers. We offer intensive training in areas such as Digital Marketing, Data Science, Business Intelligence, Artificial intelligence, and Machine Learning, among others.

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