editor

BBC News using ggplot2 for production-ready charts

February 9, 2019 By editor

Chart montage

BBC News are using the R ggplot2 package to create production-ready charts—which illustrates the flexibility and power of this package.

What’s particularly interesting is the approach they’ve taken to training their staff to use R. Initiatives include

sharing of tricks and tips through a living cookbook (knowledge base)
a six week course comprising six short introductions with links to online resources
a dedicated Slack channel for course participants to discuss issues or ask for help
an end-of-course project/challenge that exercises the skills developed over the six weeks

The strategies of spreading training over an extended period and embedding it in the workplace have been shown to increase retention and assist in moving from learning to delivering value to the business.

Common probability distributions

January 22, 2019 By editor

common probability distributions

Accessible article from Cloudera describing 15 of the most common probability distributions and their relationships.

Ranges are for cattle

January 22, 2019 By editor

I’m always surprised by how much focus is placed on advanced data science techniques when basic statistical concepts are ignored.

Take fixed point estimates. It’s clear that many of the numbers bandied around in organisations have significant levels of uncertainty associated with them. How many of us can hit the cost of a project, or its completion date, on the nail?

However, there’s little appetite for working with probability distributions. Even offering up a range of possible outcomes results in demands for a "clear answer".

In the book Public Policy in an Uncertain World President Lyndon B. Johnson, when presented with a range of values for a forecast, is claimed to have said

Ranges are for cattle. Give me a number.

There’s a lot of low-hanging fruit for companies keen to embrace data science.

List of best visualisations of 2018 lists

January 4, 2019 By editor

No, the title isn’t a typo. There’s a list of the "best of 2018 visualisation lists". List of lists is now a thing…apparently.

I did think about picking the best of the best of 2018 visualisation lists—but I couldn’t do it to you.

But, it’s a great resource so worth reading.

Visual essays

January 3, 2019 By editor

The Pudding creates visual essays to explain issues of cultural significance/importance.

Visual essays are an emerging form of journalism. Some of the most complex, debated topics get lost in “too long; didn’t read” 10,000-word articles. Visual storytelling makes ideas more accessible[…]"

If you are interested in storytelling with data then you’ll enjoy their work.