Preface

This document is located at \\admin2\instres\IR Shared Folder for Retention Analysis\supplemental\tools\data-scientist-handbook

Here we go. This is my attempt to try to document all of my work and workflows during my time as a data scientist for Institutional Research. Applied statistics in Institutional Research is challenging. The data are messy, the effect sizes are small, and it requires working with social scientists and non-quantitative partners to derive insights.

The main purpose is to at least lay out my thinking for each of these components of the work as a data scientist. My think and project structure is pretty similar from project to project and from task to task, so while I may not be able to write and explain everything that I have done, you will at least have some insight into my thinking and can perhaps anticipate my steps.

I believe that documentation is very important, so my hope is that this is the skeleton of a document that will continue to grow as the position matures.

Best of luck to you. Wake Forest is a fantastic place filled with fantastic people. Data science when applied to social science problems is challenging and rewarding.