It’s Not Rocket Science; It’s Data Science

I’ve actually never wanted to be a rocket scientist. I’ve never wanted to be any kind of scientist, but you never know what the future holds. Back in July, I wrote a blog post about wanting to learn more about SQL Server R Services, and since then I’ve been studying R through DataCamp and learning statistics through Khan Academy. Last month I had the opportunity to attend the SQL Skills Immersion Event on Practical Data Science. The course was great and so very packed with information. We played with everything from data mining in Excel to SQL Server Data Tools to the Machine Learning Studio in the Azure Portal.

During that course, I think that I made the connection between what I’ve always loved to do and my interest in Data Science. Two of my favorite things to do (outside of crocheting, of course) are stories and figuring out why. It sounds like there should be more to that clause, but I literally want to know why about almost anything. And I love stories, whether they’re movies, songs, books, spoken word, puppet shows, etc.

It seems like a lot of data science consists of figuring out what kind of story the data is telling us. We can look to see what kind of impact different variables have on the end result. Is a certain behavior within the expected range or is it an outlier. Is there really a correlation between the number of people who drowned by falling into a pool and the films Nicholas Cage appeared in? Because that is the kind of story I want to tell.

Fortunately/unfortunately getting to the point where I can tell a good data story is going to take much more than a command of the English language. There’s no lack of things to learn from math to code to the art of visualizations. I’m currently looking at the Data Science Track Microsoft Professional Program and continuing on with the DataCamp courses. I hope to continue to blog about my progress in this area – between learning and taking care of the job that pays me. I guess I won’t be bored for awhile.

Maybe I can be a story teller and a scientist at the same time.

Lori Edwards

Lori (@loriedwards) has been with SentryOne since 2013, and has recently transitioned from her role as Senior Solutions Engineer to Training Manager. She is responsible for all learning strategy and architecture, including building, executing, measuring, and evaluating training for SentryOne. Lori is also currently serving as a Director at Large for PASS.

Lori shares tips and tidbits for DBAs picked up over years of working as a DBA, as well as stories about her job here. Whether you are a new DBA who wants to learn or someone interested in learning about what it is like to work for SentryOne, be sure to check out Lori’s blog.