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Data Scientist
Extracts insights from massive datasets using statistics, machine learning, and programming.
Did you know?
In 2009, Netflix paid a $1 million prize to a team that improved its movie recommendations by 10%. They beat a rival team by just 20 minutes.
How subjects help
- Mathematics: Build models that find patterns hidden in millions of rows of data.
- Statistics: Test whether a change really made a difference or was just down to chance.
- Computer Science: Write code that cleans messy data and trains a model to make predictions.
- Logic: Spot flawed reasoning, like assuming one thing causes another because they rise together.
A famous name
DJ Patil: Helped coin the term 'data scientist' and became the first US Chief Data Scientist in 2015.
Try it yourself: Run a mini survey
- Ask one clear question with a few choices, like "Which fruit do you like best?"
- Tally the answers as you go.
- Draw a bar chart of the results.
- Write one thing the data shows, and one thing it can't tell you (would a different group answer differently?).
Data scientists and statisticians ask good questions, count carefully and are honest about what the data can't show.
Also try: Debug a sandwich robot.
Known for it in
USA, UK, Germany, Canada, Switzerland