Week 1 - Gathering useful Data Week 1 Importance of Data - Data is all around us whose main purpose is to provide information - Can have huge impacts on our lives o How we process this information is important and requires logic based on sound reasoning Basic Data types - It is a common misconception that data must be numbers - 'Data' is the plural of the word 'datum' which loosely means "an observable fact" o 'Data' may be thought of as "information" - Two important data classifications Quantitative data: Data that is represented on an interpretive numeric scale Categorical data: Data which assigns responses to one of several categories Data Sets The term 'data sets' is used to describe a collection of data (e.g. a survey) that may contain - Quantitative data - Categorical data, OR - A combination of both Example: A hypothetical voting preference data set Suppose a survey was conducted to capture voter preference data: - Age (in years) - Gender (male or female) - Voting preference (i.e. labour, liberal etc.), and - Preference changed since the last election? (Yes, No or NA) for each individual We call these variables An excerpt from excel of hypothetical voter preference data for 10 individuals 1 /Age Gender Voting Preference Change since last election? B 44 11 22 Female Undecided 11 27 22 56 36 Male Undecided NA 18/ Female Labour NA 191 78 Female Greens No 40 KemalA Liberal D Klale Male Liberal Female Labour Female Liberal Yes Male Labour No Liberal Yes No No NA No Categorical data Quantitative data
Individuals are read as rows and variables in columns - The first individual is 27yr male who intends to vote Liberal but who voted for another party in the last election Critical thinking - Independently form opinion based on information provided & - Critically assess the validity of evidence The Critical thinking Community - There are a group around the world who promote the critical thinking o E.g. The Critical Thinking Community - "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure as the intelligent are full of doubt" - Bertrand Russell o i.e. those that choose to think for themselves have reason to doubt the conclusions of others until they can form their own conclusion based on available evidence o Conversely, people who choose not to think for themselves, are happy to be guided by the opinions of others - regardless of how ill-informed those opinions may be HOWEVER, experts are not always right - It is important to point out that experts are not always right even if they are providing what they believe is legitimate advice o Just ask the 6 researchers and a government official who were jailed due to advice they gave regarding an earthquake that killed 300 people o Italy earthquake Successful Critical thinking A 'successful' critical thinker - Often starts with asking a series of questions to understand the source of data and what the data tells