Big Data, 2018-19 edition

Minutes for lecture III

----- Plan for the day -----

So far:

---big data analytics is
	-new (definition is fuzzy, methods not well established)
	-promising (marketing, social sciences, epidemiology, evidence-based Medicine)
	-big (requires special softwate/hardware)
	-complex (requires a [slightly] advanced Stats)

 --- --- --- So, why bother? --- --- --- 

Big data, with Psycology, is today a key element of 

-Communication
-Social analysis
-Marketing

With big data certains things EMERGE

-with large record, or a long timeline, rare events might pop up
-over large data we normally find more Etherogenity and can properly assess distribution of events, situation etc.
-big data can discover and make sense of *small fluctuations*

 --- --- --- so you want to be part of it? --- --- --- 

You need to

-understand, in broad terms, computer operations, data management etc.
-learn basic coding so as to become AUTONOMOUS with your own data analytics
-learn basic visualization and Web communication 

 --- --- --- Key concepts for the day --- --- --- 

--- Flow of control
--- iterables

- present in all formal systems for operating computers: Programming languages
- make the computer INTERACT with the input data

 --- BEFORE

- simple 'mathematical' operations are executed in order, top to bottom
- they change the values stored in the computer, and create new one.

 --- NOW

 - decision statements re-order the operations according to criteria we specified
 - they do not change stored values nor create new ones.

--- --- --- Examples --- --- --- 

example-no_control.py
example-if_control.py
example-if_else_control.py