Ben Jones - Avoiding Data Pitfalls: How to Steer Clear of Common Blunders When Working with Data and Presenting Analysis and Visualizations

1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8

Ben Jones

Copyright 2020 Ben Jones. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Jones, Ben, 1978 author.

Title: Avoiding data pitfalls : how to steer clear of common blunders when working with data and presenting analysis and visualizations / Ben Jones.

Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., [2020] | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019033232 (print) | LCCN 2019033233 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119278160 (paperback) | ISBN 9781119278191 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119278177 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Information visualization. | Quantitative research.

Classification: LCC QA76.9.I52 J6639 2020 (print) | LCC QA76.9.I52 (ebook) | DDC 001.4/226dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019033232

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019033233

Cover Design: Wiley

Cover Image: deomis/iStock.com

There's a passage in The Dhammapada, which is a collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form, which has this to say:

If you see someone wise, who can steer you away from the wrong path, follow that person, as you would one who can reveal hidden treasures. Only good can come out of it. Let them admonish, or instruct, or restrain you from what is wrong.

The Dhammapada, Verse 76

Most ancient wisdom texts have a similar exhortation to find a wise person and follow their advice. If you listen to their words carefully, you'll avoid horrible mistakes and the associated pain and discomfort that these mistakes will cause in your life. We all need a mentor, guide, or guru from time to time.

Unfortunately, I may not be that wise person you're looking for. I'd say I'm more like a person who has taken his bumps and bruises while searching for such a wise individual myself. So I'm more like the person in the words to a favorite song of mine:

No, I don't claim to be a wise man, a poet or a saint. I'm just another man who's searching for a better way.

Jon Bon Jovi, Bang a Drum

I figured it just might be helpful, however, to capture and convey the types of mistakes I've made, and seen others make, many times over the course of my data working career. I've worked with data in manufacturing and transactional environments, on the shop floor, in the boardroom, and in newsrooms all over the country, and I've trained and taught people how to work with data in corporate conference rooms, virtual chat rooms, and in the halls of academia, from coast to coast.

But who, exactly, am I trying to help with this book? Well, me, for one. Every time I write a blog post, record a tutorial, or craft a presentation, I find myself going back to these materials over and over. Whenever I do, I stop and wonder how the past version of myself was so much smarter than the current version of me, and I tip my hat for the favor.

And I hope it will be helpful for you. If you're starting out in your data journey, you'll come across many of these pitfalls, I promise you. My hope is that you'll be more likely to recognize them for what they are when you see them sometimes from the top and other times from the bottom.

And if you've been working with data for some time, you'll read a section here or there, and you'll nod knowingly, glancing down at a scar or two that you earned by falling headfirst into the pit with me. And your brow may furrow when you read about other pitfalls, a sinking feeling coming over you that you may have made that mistake without recognizing it. If so, know that I feel your pain.

It's really important, though, that we learn to pick ourselves up and dust off our jeans, clean off those scuff marks, ice any bruises we may have suffered, and carry on, a bit wiser for the experience.

Equal in importance is that we show others the same grace. It's just too easy to get it wrong, and it's bound to happen. Even experts fall into data pitfalls on a fairly regular basis. Just like a well-worn path that marks the best route across a terrain, the more we admit and talk about our shortcomings, the less likely others are to fall into the same trap we fell into. We'll be leaving warning signs for them.

You and I may have to swallow our pride when we raise our hand and share the mea culpa, but we can think of it as a gift for future generations. They may shake their heads and wonder how we messed up so badly, but you and I will know that the only reason they've evolved as far as they have is that we paved the way for them with our blunders.

What's more important than the protection of my ego or yours is the evolution of our species into an efficient and effective data working force for the planet. We're not there, yet. Not even close.