Berkley Data Science
Berkley Data Science
Data Science
Curriculum
What Is Data Science?
Careers in Data Science
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MIDS Class Profile
What is Data Science?
Data science continues to evolve as one of the most promising and in-demand career
paths for skilled professionals. Today, successful data professionals understand
they must advance past the traditional skills of analyzing large amounts of data,
data mining, and programming skills. To uncover useful intelligence for their
organizations, data scientists must master the full spectrum of the data science
life cycle and possess a level of flexibility and understanding to maximize returns
at each phase of the process.
The image represents the five stages of the data science life cycle: Capture, (data
acquisition, data entry, signal reception, data extraction); Maintain (data
warehousing, data cleansing, data staging, data processing, data architecture);
Process (data mining, clustering/classification, data modeling, data
summarization); Analyze (exploratory/confirmatory, predictive analysis, regression,
text mining, qualitative analysis); Communicate (data reporting, data
visualization, business intelligence, decision making).
The term “data scientist” was coined when companies first realized the need for
data professionals skilled in organizing and analyzing massive amounts of data. Ten
years after the widespread business adoption of the internet, Hal Varian, Google’s
chief economist, first dean of the UC Berkeley School of Information (I School),
and UC Berkeley emeritus professor of information sciences, business, and
economics, predicted the importance of adapting to technology’s influence and
reconfiguration of different industries.
“The ability to take data — to be able to understand it, to process it, to extract
value from it, to visualize it, to communicate it — that’s going to be a hugely
important skill in the next decades.”
Python
Apache Hadoop
MapReduce
Apache Spark
NoSQL databases
Cloud computing
D3
Apache Pig
Tableau
iPython notebooks
GitHub
With the power to shape decisions, solve real-world challenges, and make a
meaningful impact in diverse sectors, data science professionals have the
opportunity to pursue various career paths.
Versatile
Choose the industry you want to work in
Remote Options
Work from the comfort of your home
Ever-Evolving
Gain new skills as data uses continue to grow
Where Do You Fit in Data Science?
Data is everywhere and expansive. Various terms related to mining, cleaning,
analyzing, and interpreting data are often used interchangeably, but the roles
typically involve different skill sets. The complexity of the data analyzed also
differs.
Data Scientist
Data scientists examine which questions need answering and where to find the
related data. They have business acumen and analytical skills as well as the
ability to mine, clean, and present data. Businesses use data scientists to source,
manage, and analyze large amounts of unstructured data. Data scientists also
leverage machine learning techniques to model information and interpret results
effectively, a skill that differentiates them from data analysts. Results are then
synthesized and communicated to key stakeholders to drive strategic decision making
in the organization.
Data Analyst
Data analysts bridge the gap between data scientists and business analysts. They’re
provided with the questions that need answering from an organization and then
organize and analyze data to find results that align with high-level business
strategy. Data analysts are responsible for translating technical analysis to
qualitative action items and effectively communicating their findings to diverse
stakeholders.
Data Engineer
Data engineers manage exponentially growing and rapidly changing data. They focus
on developing, deploying, managing, and optimizing data pipelines and
infrastructure to transform and transfer data to data scientists and data analysts
for querying.
Gaining specialized skills within the data science field can distinguish data
scientists even further. For example, machine learning experts use high-level
programming skills to create algorithms that continuously gather data and adjust
their learning to improve prediction performance.
Step 1 of 4
Which program most interests you?
— Select —
1Hal Varian on How the Web Challenges ManagersExternal link:open_in_new. (2009).
Mckinsey. Retrieved December 2023.arrow_upward
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