As mine and DS41's first week at the Data School comes to a close, I'm beginning to reflect on everything I have learnt this week. From data structure, data sources, and data preparation to name just a few, its amazing how much can be covered in a short space of time.
However, amongst the various lessons, one stands out prominently (and its not what you would expect). In our first lesson, Carl Allchin (Data School UK, Head Coach) tasked us with defining the term 'Data'. Simple, right? Not exactly. Whilst everyone knows what data is, pinning down an exact definition proved to be quite the task, and I think this stems from the all encompassing nature of the word.
We all use data. When we check our Weather app to decide whether or not to bring a coat to work, we are making data informed decisions. When I compare how many goals Haaland and Kane scored last season to decide who to put in my Fantasy Football team, I am making a data driven decision.
We all create data. Whether that is when we do our weekly food shop at Tesco, tap our Oyster cards to use the tube, or post a selfie on Instagram.
Data is everywhere, and absolutely integral to making good decisions in all aspects of life. Anyway, enough of my rambling, how do we define data?
We can define data as," The facts or numbers collected from observations for the purpose of understanding a particular subject better" (Thank you Carl for your time invested to compose this definition).
