Big Data Meets Survey Science


Book Description

Offers a clear view of the utility and place for survey data within the broader Big Data ecosystem This book presents a collection of snapshots from two sides of the Big Data perspective. It assembles an array of tangible tools, methods, and approaches that illustrate how Big Data sources and methods are being used in the survey and social sciences to improve official statistics and estimates for human populations. It also provides examples of how survey data are being used to evaluate and improve the quality of insights derived from Big Data. Big Data Meets Survey Science: A Collection of Innovative Methods shows how survey data and Big Data are used together for the benefit of one or more sources of data, with numerous chapters providing consistent illustrations and examples of survey data enriching the evaluation of Big Data sources. Examples of how machine learning, data mining, and other data science techniques are inserted into virtually every stage of the survey lifecycle are presented. Topics covered include: Total Error Frameworks for Found Data; Performance and Sensitivities of Home Detection on Mobile Phone Data; Assessing Community Wellbeing Using Google Street View and Satellite Imagery; Using Surveys to Build and Assess RBS Religious Flag; and more. Presents groundbreaking survey methods being utilized today in the field of Big Data Explores how machine learning methods can be applied to the design, collection, and analysis of social science data Filled with examples and illustrations that show how survey data benefits Big Data evaluation Covers methods and applications used in combining Big Data with survey statistics Examines regulations as well as ethical and privacy issues Big Data Meets Survey Science: A Collection of Innovative Methods is an excellent book for both the survey and social science communities as they learn to capitalize on this new revolution. It will also appeal to the broader data and computer science communities looking for new areas of application for emerging methods and data sources.




Humanizing Big Data


Book Description

Big data raises more questions than it answers, particularly for those organizations struggling to deal with what has become an overwhelming deluge of data. It can offer marketers more than simple tactical predictive analytics, but organizations need a bigger picture, one that generates some real insight into human behaviour, to drive consumer strategy rather than just better targeting techniques. Humanizing Big Data guides marketing managers, brand managers, strategists and senior executives on how to use big data strategically to redefine customer relationships for better customer engagement and an improved bottom line. Humanizing Big Data provides a detailed understanding of the way to approach and think about the challenges and opportunities of big data, enabling any brand to realize the value of their current and future data assets. First it explores the 'nuts and bolts' of data analytics and the way in which the current big data agenda is in danger of losing credibility by paying insufficient attention to what are often fundamental tenets in any form of analysis. Next it sets out a manifesto for a smart data approach, drawing on an intelligent and big picture view of data analytics that addresses the strategic business challenges that businesses face. Finally it explores the way in which datafication is changing the nature of the relationship between brands and consumers and why this calls for new forms of analytics to support rapidly emerging new business models. After reading this book, any brand should be in a position to make a step change in the value they derive from their data assets.




Big Data for Twenty-First-Century Economic Statistics


Book Description

Introduction.Big data for twenty-first-century economic statistics: the future is now /Katharine G. Abraham, Ron S. Jarmin, Brian C. Moyer, and Matthew D. Shapiro --Toward comprehensive use of big data in economic statistics.Reengineering key national economic indicators /Gabriel Ehrlich, John Haltiwanger, Ron S. Jarmin, David Johnson, and Matthew D. Shapiro ;Big data in the US consumer price index: experiences and plans /Crystal G. Konny, Brendan K. Williams, and David M. Friedman ;Improving retail trade data products using alternative data sources /Rebecca J. Hutchinson ;From transaction data to economic statistics: constructing real-time, high-frequency, geographic measures of consumer spending /Aditya Aladangady, Shifrah Aron-Dine, Wendy Dunn, Laura Feiveson, Paul Lengermann, and Claudia Sahm ;Improving the accuracy of economic measurement with multiple data sources: the case of payroll employment data /Tomaz Cajner, Leland D. Crane, Ryan A. Decker, Adrian Hamins-Puertolas, and Christopher Kurz --Uses of big data for classification.Transforming naturally occurring text data into economic statistics: the case of online job vacancy postings /Arthur Turrell, Bradley Speigner, Jyldyz Djumalieva, David Copple, and James Thurgood ;Automating response evaluation for franchising questions on the 2017 economic census /Joseph Staudt, Yifang Wei, Lisa Singh, Shawn Klimek, J. Bradford Jensen, and Andrew Baer ;Using public data to generate industrial classification codes /John Cuffe, Sudip Bhattacharjee, Ugochukwu Etudo, Justin C. Smith, Nevada Basdeo, Nathaniel Burbank, and Shawn R. Roberts --Uses of big data for sectoral measurement.Nowcasting the local economy: using Yelp data to measure economic activity /Edward L. Glaeser, Hyunjin Kim, and Michael Luca ;Unit values for import and export price indexes: a proof of concept /Don A. Fast and Susan E. Fleck ;Quantifying productivity growth in the delivery of important episodes of care within the Medicare program using insurance claims and administrative data /John A. Romley, Abe Dunn, Dana Goldman, and Neeraj Sood ;Valuing housing services in the era of big data: a user cost approach leveraging Zillow microdata /Marina Gindelsky, Jeremy G. Moulton, and Scott A. Wentland --Methodological challenges and advances.Off to the races: a comparison of machine learning and alternative data for predicting economic indicators /Jeffrey C. Chen, Abe Dunn, Kyle Hood, Alexander Driessen, and Andrea Batch ;A machine learning analysis of seasonal and cyclical sales in weekly scanner data /Rishab Guha and Serena Ng ;Estimating the benefits of new products /W. Erwin Diewert and Robert C. Feenstra.




Big Data for Regional Science


Book Description

Recent technological advancements and other related factors and trends are contributing to the production of an astoundingly large and rapidly accelerating collection of data, or ‘Big Data’. This data now allows us to examine urban and regional phenomena in ways that were previously not possible. Despite the tremendous potential of big data for regional science, its use and application in this context is fraught with issues and challenges. This book brings together leading contributors to present an interdisciplinary, agenda-setting and action-oriented platform for research and practice in the urban and regional community. This book provides a comprehensive, multidisciplinary and cutting-edge perspective on big data for regional science. Chapters contain a collection of research notes contributed by experts from all over the world with a wide array of disciplinary backgrounds. The content is organized along four themes: sources of big data; integration, processing and management of big data; analytics for big data; and, higher level policy and programmatic considerations. As well as concisely and comprehensively synthesising work done to date, the book also considers future challenges and prospects for the use of big data in regional science. Big Data for Regional Science provides a seminal contribution to the field of regional science and will appeal to a broad audience, including those at all levels of academia, industry, and government.




Big Data


Book Description

A exploration of the latest trend in technology and the impact it will have on the economy, science, and society at large.




Big Data at Work


Book Description

Go ahead, be skeptical about big data. The author was—at first. When the term “big data” first came on the scene, bestselling author Tom Davenport (Competing on Analytics, Analytics at Work) thought it was just another example of technology hype. But his research in the years that followed changed his mind. Now, in clear, conversational language, Davenport explains what big data means—and why everyone in business needs to know about it. Big Data at Work covers all the bases: what big data means from a technical, consumer, and management perspective; what its opportunities and costs are; where it can have real business impact; and which aspects of this hot topic have been oversold. This book will help you understand: • Why big data is important to you and your organization • What technology you need to manage it • How big data could change your job, your company, and your industry • How to hire, rent, or develop the kinds of people who make big data work • The key success factors in implementing any big data project • How big data is leading to a new approach to managing analytics With dozens of company examples, including UPS, GE, Amazon, United Healthcare, Citigroup, and many others, this book will help you seize all opportunities—from improving decisions, products, and services to strengthening customer relationships. It will show you how to put big data to work in your own organization so that you too can harness the power of this ever-evolving new resource.




Survey Data Harmonization in the Social Sciences


Book Description

Survey Data Harmonization in the Social Sciences An expansive and incisive overview of the practical uses of harmonization and its implications for data quality and costs In Survey Data Harmonization in the Social Sciences, a team of distinguished social science researchers delivers a comprehensive collection of ex-ante and ex-post harmonization methodologies in the context of specific longitudinal and cross-national survey projects. The book examines how ex-ante and ex-post harmonization work individually and in relation to one another, offering practical guidance on harmonization decisions in the preparation of new data infrastructure for comparative research. Contributions from experts in sociology, political science, demography, economics, health, and medicine are included, all of which give voice to discipline-specific and interdisciplinary views on methodological challenges inherent in harmonization. The authors offer perspectives from Europe and the United States, as well as Africa, the latter of which provides insights rarely featured in survey research methodology handbooks. Readers will also find: A thorough introduction to approaches and concepts for survey data harmonization, as well as the effects of data harmonization on the overall survey research process Comprehensive explorations of ex-ante harmonization of survey instruments and non-survey data Practical discussions of ex-post harmonization of national social surveys, census and time use data, including explorations of survey data recycling A detailed overview of statistical issues linked to the use of harmonized survey data Perfect for upper undergraduate and graduate researchers who specialize in survey methodology, Survey Data Harmonization in the Social Sciences will also earn a place in the libraries of survey practitioners who engage in international research.







Big Data


Book Description

Summary Big Data teaches you to build big data systems using an architecture that takes advantage of clustered hardware along with new tools designed specifically to capture and analyze web-scale data. It describes a scalable, easy-to-understand approach to big data systems that can be built and run by a small team. Following a realistic example, this book guides readers through the theory of big data systems, how to implement them in practice, and how to deploy and operate them once they're built. Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications. About the Book Web-scale applications like social networks, real-time analytics, or e-commerce sites deal with a lot of data, whose volume and velocity exceed the limits of traditional database systems. These applications require architectures built around clusters of machines to store and process data of any size, or speed. Fortunately, scale and simplicity are not mutually exclusive. Big Data teaches you to build big data systems using an architecture designed specifically to capture and analyze web-scale data. This book presents the Lambda Architecture, a scalable, easy-to-understand approach that can be built and run by a small team. You'll explore the theory of big data systems and how to implement them in practice. In addition to discovering a general framework for processing big data, you'll learn specific technologies like Hadoop, Storm, and NoSQL databases. This book requires no previous exposure to large-scale data analysis or NoSQL tools. Familiarity with traditional databases is helpful. What's Inside Introduction to big data systems Real-time processing of web-scale data Tools like Hadoop, Cassandra, and Storm Extensions to traditional database skills About the Authors Nathan Marz is the creator of Apache Storm and the originator of the Lambda Architecture for big data systems. James Warren is an analytics architect with a background in machine learning and scientific computing. Table of Contents A new paradigm for Big Data PART 1 BATCH LAYER Data model for Big Data Data model for Big Data: Illustration Data storage on the batch layer Data storage on the batch layer: Illustration Batch layer Batch layer: Illustration An example batch layer: Architecture and algorithms An example batch layer: Implementation PART 2 SERVING LAYER Serving layer Serving layer: Illustration PART 3 SPEED LAYER Realtime views Realtime views: Illustration Queuing and stream processing Queuing and stream processing: Illustration Micro-batch stream processing Micro-batch stream processing: Illustration Lambda Architecture in depth




Words That Matter


Book Description

How the 2016 news media environment allowed Trump to win the presidency The 2016 presidential election campaign might have seemed to be all about one man. He certainly did everything possible to reinforce that impression. But to an unprecedented degree the campaign also was about the news media and its relationships with the man who won and the woman he defeated. Words that Matter assesses how the news media covered the extraordinary 2016 election and, more important, what information—true, false, or somewhere in between—actually helped voters make up their minds. Using journalists' real-time tweets and published news coverage of campaign events, along with Gallup polling data measuring how voters perceived that reporting, the book traces the flow of information from candidates and their campaigns to journalists and to the public. The evidence uncovered shows how Donald Trump's victory, and Hillary Clinton's loss, resulted in large part from how the news media responded to these two unique candidates. Both candidates were unusual in their own ways, and thus presented a long list of possible issues for the media to focus on. Which of these many topics got communicated to voters made a big difference outcome. What people heard about these two candidates during the campaign was quite different. Coverage of Trump was scattered among many different issues, and while many of those issues were negative, no single negative narrative came to dominate the coverage of the man who would be elected the 45th president of the United States. Clinton, by contrast, faced an almost unrelenting news media focus on one negative issue—her alleged misuse of e-mails—that captured public attention in a way that the more numerous questions about Trump did not. Some news media coverage of the campaign was insightful and helpful to voters who really wanted serious information to help them make the most important decision a democracy offers. But this book also demonstrates how the modern media environment can exacerbate the kind of pack journalism that leads some issues to dominate the news while others of equal or greater importance get almost no attention, making it hard for voters to make informed choices.