Agency: Dreamstime.com
How do we make use of an explosion of information? What skills do we need to manage massive amounts of data? Can we analyze them, create visualizations, and make discoveries?
If any of these questions intrigue you, you may be interested in “the sexiest job in the 21st century” (according to the Harvard Business Review).
Welcome to the budding field of data science. Also known as “big data,” this field incorporates various disciplines such as analytics, statistics, pattern recognition, and computational thinking (just to name a few). Importantly, these skills can be applied across all industries: wherever there is an immense amount of information, this knowledge becomes invaluable. Data scientists are in high demand!
As cited in this New York Times article, we have access to an abundance of data whether it be in online behavior, medical data, buying habits, or crime statistics. From university tuition data and movie ratings to economic data and sports statistics, the list could go on. The ability to handle, understand, and analyze large sets of numbers has become increasingly important.
Spreadsheets are one of many excellent tools to explore your curiosity of data. With spreadsheets, you can sort, filter, organize huge quantities of figures. On a more advanced level, spreadsheets provide a platform for performing statistics, generating analytics, understanding correlations, and creating visualizations.
Use our video tutorials and website as a guide to discover or brush up on your spreadsheet knowledge. Master the fundamental skills. And then apply them to real-world applications. The data is already out there waiting for you!