Why do I learn data science?

Brief

Data science is at the heart of decision-making in today’s world, driving personalized recommendations and predictive analytics. In this post, I describe why data science is important, I include my background, and why I decided to learn data science.

Why is data science important?

Imagine that you work for Meta, and you decide to launch a new feature on Instagram. How do you know if the new feature increases content engagement?

Secondly, imagine that you own an e-shop offering shoes. You want to introduce a new model. Which sizes, and how many should you buy?

Lastly, you are the CEO of UberEats. How do you create an earnings forecast for your drivers?

In all these examples, the person in charge can make a decision or prediction based on their experience. However, as psychology teaches us, we are all subject to biases, and more often than we are willing to admit, we act based on our emotions.

One way to overcome this issue is to involve more people. With more opinions, there is, hopefully, a higher probability of making the right choices. However, groups can go wrong as well. Look no further than at the many crashes in the stock market.

I believe that a more rational way out of this problem is to rely on data.

Before launching a new feature globally, you can make it available to only some users and compare their content engagement with other users. This generates data in the process and leads to a more informed decision.

Similarly, one can look at the sales of shoes from previous years to determine which sizes to buy.

Lastly, a “machine learning” model can be made to predict expected earnings for Uber drivers.

Data science transforms data into informed insights, whether through statistical tests or machine learning models.

My Background

I finished high school in 2018 in Slovakia. For my final examination, I chose four subjects: Slovak, English, Mathematics, and Computer Science. At the time, I was tinkering with game engines, and I had an ambition to develop my own game. Naturally, I pursued this dream at the Faculty of Information Systems at VUT Brno - University of Technology. I had some exposure to programming and electronics, but more importantly, to mathematics. University mathematics fascinated me because concepts such as groups, derivatives, and graphs were introduced, which I had never seen in high school. Lastly, I met my girlfriend there, and she persuaded me to apply to universities in the UK.

Fast forward to 2024… I hold a master’s degree in mathematics. My desire to learn abstract math was satiated. In the first two years, I even took psychology as a “minor.” In the projects that I completed in my 4th and 5th years, I sought to combine mathematics and computer science. The first project was on Ergodic theory in data compression, and the second project was on computational methods for fluid-structure interaction.

Me and Data Science

Reflecting back on these years, all the ingredients for data science were present. I like programming, which data scientists use to write their machine learning models. I took psychology classes where I learned statistical techniques such as Student’s t-test, ANOVA (analysis of variance), and data visualization. These skills are used by data scientists and data analysts to craft reports for stakeholders to drive decisions in companies. Lastly, my exposure to applied mathematics helps me with concepts such as gradient descent that are used in machine learning.

Conclusion

Data science helps people and companies make informed decisions. Of course, there are nuances, such as where the data is from and whether some data is missing, but in general, data science attempts to rationalize predictions and decision-making. I am learning data science because it aligns with my interests: programming, psychology, and mathematics. But what is data science for you? Why do you find it interesting?