Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2021 November 2

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November 2

What is a data-driven approach? How to test it? Using more data?

I'm aware that 'data-driven' is sometimes just a fancy buzzword thrown around for marketing purposes. But this Dilbert cartoon let me thinking.

For those unfamiliar with the cartoon, the Pointy-haired Boss is known for his micromanagement, poorly thought suggestions, lack of technical skills and use of buzzwords. Dilbert, in the red shirt is the (maybe too much) technically minded.

Dilbert, data-driven

If empirical science follows the path hypothesis --- tests --- theory, what is a 'data-driven' approach? Is it the same, but just testing hypothesis with pre-existing data? Is it testing hypothesis with piles of data? And how can we know we got our hand on proper relevant data?

--Bumptump (talk) 02:03, 2 November 2021 (UTC)

See Data-driven: "The adjective data-driven means that progress in an activity is compelled by data, rather than by intuition or by personal experience" e.g. Data driven marketing. Data can be purchased from a Data mart or Data warehouse.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 09:23, 2 November 2021 (UTC)

This is more a question for the science section of the Desk. Scientific hypotheses do not arise spontaneously out of thin air; they may be based on patterns discerned in data obtained through observation – see, for example, Ohm's law § History.  --Lambiam 13:18, 2 November 2021 (UTC)

This is also part of many different improvement processes. I'm going to try to generalize multiple types of processes to make the example, so this is not one specific process. You identify a problem. You define the problem in way in which it can be measured. You come up with a way to improve the process. You measure the process again to see if there was improvement. The improvement is data driven because you used data to measure the initial state of the process and then used data to measure the hopefully improved state. An example might be something like: "We think that drinking coffee at 2pm improves productivity." First, you have to measure productivity in a way that produces data, not "good" or "bad", but something like "we have a productivity rate of 42." Then, make everyone start drinking coffee at 2pm. Measure productivity again. Did it go up? You aren't looking at specific people and doing surveys. You aren't interested in opinions. You only look at the data. It isn't a perfect process. Your way of measuring producitivity could be flawed and the entire "improvement" doesn't exist in reality. But, you used data to drive your improvement process. 97.82.165.112 (talk) 21:58, 2 November 2021 (UTC)