6 answers
Genevieve
Student
Topeka, Kansas
62
Questions
Asked
529 views
Data Science/Scientist Questions
I recently learned about the field of Data Science. I'm seriously considering a career in Data Science because it combines my interests in math, computer science, research, and writing. I'm really interested in learning more about it as a career.
My questions are:
1.) What do data scientists do?
2.) According to an article I found on Indeed, some things that data scientists may do include "working in social media companies and using the user data to understand habits and suggest content that the users will enjoy. They may also work in politics and make predictions about the election results. " What else may they work on besides this? I like the idea of studying retail data, or data on where college graduates relocate to.
3.) Does it involve a lot of math, or is it mostly computer-based?
4.) What are the pros and cons of this career?
5.) Is it in demand? When I was researching data science on LinkedIn, I found a disheartening number of posts by laid-off data scientists.
6.)How much education to you need to become a data scientist?
7.) Are data scientist jobs mostly in person or remote. If they're in person, where are they mostly located (e.g. East/West Coast, big cities, specific cities, etc.)
8.) Is it a popular career choice? Is it a popular career choice among women?
9.) What classes/self-study courses should I take to see if I would enjoy being a data scientist?
10.) Can you get an MBA with a focus in data science?
If you can think of anything else that would be useful for me to know, I would really appreciate it. Thank you in advance!! :)
6 answers
Mark Grayson
VP
9
Answers
Austin, Texas
Updated
Mark’s Answer
Everything that's been said so far is true, but I'd add that more companies across all types of industries are realizing that they can better serve their customers by actually understanding them, and that they can better understand them by using insights that they get by keeping track of what customers actually do, what they buy, and how they buy it. For this reason I think data scientists will be in great demand across a lot of industries, just as 15 years ago, there was a huge need for website developers when so many companies realized that they needed an online presence to remain relevant. If I was at the start of my career instead of the end of it, I'd be strongly considering data science as a field. (In fact, I do as much of it as I can in "spare time" at work to make sure I understand what's going on.)
Two big things to consider about data science are CONTEXT and VALIDATION. There are all sorts of datasets and all sorts of tools that one can use to make pretty graphs and things . But a skilled person can inadvertently misuse this data to support arguments that are faulty if they are not careful. Saying you have twice as many customers as last year is impressive, but if you only had 50 customers and you were aiming for 500, doubling to 100 is not as wonderful as it seems (CONTEXT). If you think you had 100 customers, because you tracked 100 different credit card numbers, but some of them are the same person using different credit cards, you may really only have 70 actual customers (VALIDATION). A good data scientist thinks about these things, and is patient enough to dig into the raw data to find patterns, and try to identify things that don't make sense that may be a sign something isn't right. Equally important, a good data scientist needs to know how to effectively and accurately communicate what the data CAN and CANNOT answer, to an audience of people who don't understand data and its strengths and weaknesses.
Two big things to consider about data science are CONTEXT and VALIDATION. There are all sorts of datasets and all sorts of tools that one can use to make pretty graphs and things . But a skilled person can inadvertently misuse this data to support arguments that are faulty if they are not careful. Saying you have twice as many customers as last year is impressive, but if you only had 50 customers and you were aiming for 500, doubling to 100 is not as wonderful as it seems (CONTEXT). If you think you had 100 customers, because you tracked 100 different credit card numbers, but some of them are the same person using different credit cards, you may really only have 70 actual customers (VALIDATION). A good data scientist thinks about these things, and is patient enough to dig into the raw data to find patterns, and try to identify things that don't make sense that may be a sign something isn't right. Equally important, a good data scientist needs to know how to effectively and accurately communicate what the data CAN and CANNOT answer, to an audience of people who don't understand data and its strengths and weaknesses.
Thanks Mark, that was really helpful! :)
Genevieve
Andrew Au
Professor of Mathematics & Statistics, Retired
141
Answers
Updated
Andrew’s Answer
In the nutshell, data science is a method to extract useful information out of a large data set. The data set can be on business, sociological, political, or any area of interest in which one would like to deduce “useful” information.
Hence, it is a marriage of mathematics/statistics, and computer programming.
As far as the required education to be a data scientist, it depends on the technical level in which you would like to work. One can be a data technician with minimal mathematical/computer training. On the other hand, one can be a research data scientist working on the forefront of data mining where an advanced degree in mathematics/statistics would be necessary.
I fully appreciate your concern with the future career potential as well as employment opportunities in data science. We do not have a crystal ball to read into the future. Employment in any field is a function of supply and demand of employees, and needs at the moment. It is impossible to predict howe rosy or dark in the employment scenario a few years from now.
It is important to consider our interest, as well as strengths and weaknesses in the choice of an academic field. We may come to regret in the future if we choose a field only for the financial benefits. It would be a tough decision, and you alone can answer that question.
Hence, it is a marriage of mathematics/statistics, and computer programming.
As far as the required education to be a data scientist, it depends on the technical level in which you would like to work. One can be a data technician with minimal mathematical/computer training. On the other hand, one can be a research data scientist working on the forefront of data mining where an advanced degree in mathematics/statistics would be necessary.
I fully appreciate your concern with the future career potential as well as employment opportunities in data science. We do not have a crystal ball to read into the future. Employment in any field is a function of supply and demand of employees, and needs at the moment. It is impossible to predict howe rosy or dark in the employment scenario a few years from now.
It is important to consider our interest, as well as strengths and weaknesses in the choice of an academic field. We may come to regret in the future if we choose a field only for the financial benefits. It would be a tough decision, and you alone can answer that question.
Thank you Andrew!
Genevieve
Peter Huang
Security consultant
79
Answers
Cupertino, California
Updated
Peter’s Answer
others have provide good answers on some of the questions. I will try to answer some specific ones. a) I'm not a data scientist but I have work with a few, so the answer may be bias toward my experience 2) the data you have access to will dictate your research direction (not often one has a free range of data to analyse) 3) since one has to deal with a lot of data, computer skill come in deal with those data. math skill come in dealing with modeling the data. in order to get to that level, an advance degree is needed. I would say master as minimal and I do see lots of PHD (especially if you browse the job sites)
hope that help, good luck
hope that help, good luck
Thank you Peter!
Genevieve
Rathin Mojumdar
IT Professional
7
Answers
Stony Brook, New York
Updated
Rathin’s Answer
Hi Genevieve,
Those are really great questions! Let me try to answer them. A Data Scientist is a professional that collects/extracts large amounts of data using analytical, statistical, and programming skills from multiple sources. These data could be social media data, website data, or marketing data and they process, clean, validate, and analyze these data to find information and patterns (for example - most bought items/ items most people are looking to buy during Christmas, etc.) They are responsible for using these data to develop some prediction and system solutions tailored to the organization's needs.
The data scientist definitely needs some of these core skills: Statistical analysis and computing, Programming, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Math & Statistics, data visualization, etc.
As we are more and more marching toward the AI world (ChatBot, ChatGPT, etc.), I believe the demand for data scientists will definitely be there in the near future. As per this website, the employment of data scientists is projected to grow 36 percent from 2021 to 2031, much faster than the average for all occupations.
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/math/data-scientists.htm
Remote/Onsite - I would say that would depend on the organization.
I would say, this could be a great career choice for anyone who is passionate about data. I see you already have a few of the skills - math, computer science, etc. under your belt. These are natural fits for a career in data science. There are many universities offering data scientists degrees including BS and MS degrees. This website might help you to find the right one for you.
https://365datascience.com/career-advice/career-guides/best-degrees-data-scientist/
Hope this helps. All the best!!
Those are really great questions! Let me try to answer them. A Data Scientist is a professional that collects/extracts large amounts of data using analytical, statistical, and programming skills from multiple sources. These data could be social media data, website data, or marketing data and they process, clean, validate, and analyze these data to find information and patterns (for example - most bought items/ items most people are looking to buy during Christmas, etc.) They are responsible for using these data to develop some prediction and system solutions tailored to the organization's needs.
The data scientist definitely needs some of these core skills: Statistical analysis and computing, Programming, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Math & Statistics, data visualization, etc.
As we are more and more marching toward the AI world (ChatBot, ChatGPT, etc.), I believe the demand for data scientists will definitely be there in the near future. As per this website, the employment of data scientists is projected to grow 36 percent from 2021 to 2031, much faster than the average for all occupations.
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/math/data-scientists.htm
Remote/Onsite - I would say that would depend on the organization.
I would say, this could be a great career choice for anyone who is passionate about data. I see you already have a few of the skills - math, computer science, etc. under your belt. These are natural fits for a career in data science. There are many universities offering data scientists degrees including BS and MS degrees. This website might help you to find the right one for you.
https://365datascience.com/career-advice/career-guides/best-degrees-data-scientist/
Hope this helps. All the best!!
This was super helpful, thank you!
Genevieve
Alex Rompilla Jr.
Business Analyst
5
Answers
Saint Marys, Ohio
Updated
Alex’s Answer
Hi Genevieve,
I looked at your questions and yes data scientists are in hot demand right now. Data scientists are a hybrid mathematician, computer, and analyzer. They are required to compile and analyze large amounts of data to look for trends, cost reduction / savings opportunities, potential market openings for products and help management make financially responsible decisions.
Data scientists should have knowledge of different data and process analyzing methodologies, understanding of different types of data modeling, and a strong background in statistics and financial understanding.
Majority of the demand is in the medical field which lends to higher paying positions. The con to a data scientist in the medical field is, "It's a high paced position with little tolerance for getting the information required."
I would go here to understand more about the methodologies: https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/data-analytics/data-analysis-techniques/
I looked at your questions and yes data scientists are in hot demand right now. Data scientists are a hybrid mathematician, computer, and analyzer. They are required to compile and analyze large amounts of data to look for trends, cost reduction / savings opportunities, potential market openings for products and help management make financially responsible decisions.
Data scientists should have knowledge of different data and process analyzing methodologies, understanding of different types of data modeling, and a strong background in statistics and financial understanding.
Majority of the demand is in the medical field which lends to higher paying positions. The con to a data scientist in the medical field is, "It's a high paced position with little tolerance for getting the information required."
Alex recommends the following next steps:
Thank you!!
Genevieve
Micheal White
Reimbursement and Quality Metrics Management
18
Answers
Panama City Beach, Florida
Updated
Micheal’s Answer
Alex and Rathin's answers are spot on. Let me add that you should prepare for an internship and lots events like Hackathons. It is not an easy field to just enter straight out of school. I would check out kaggle and GitHub as well.
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