Data Capture and Preparations (12122.1)

A core skill of a data scientist is to capture, extract and clean data. Real world data often come from various data sources, in various formats and are unorganised. This unit introduces students to the concepts and techniques a data scientist employs in the early stages of data analysis process. This unit will provide hands-on experience in capturing data from sensors, collecting data from public information as well as working with existing data sets using real-world examples. Such data may be temporal or spatial, ordinal or categorical, embedded in documents or files. Students will learn how to import and clean the data, which usually involves multiple, often complicated, steps to convert data from its raw format to a clean format that greatly facilitates the later stages of the data analysis. This is known as data wrangling.

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Work with sensors for capturing data;
2. Choose and apply appropriate techniques for capturing data from existing sources;
3. Import data into R;
4. Convert data from one format to another one in R;
5. Employ suitable techniques for tidying data; and
6. Develop a sound understanding of text mining methods in R.

Graduate attributes

1. UC graduates are professional - communicate effectively
1. UC graduates are professional - display initiative and drive, and use their organisation skills to plan and manage their workload
1. UC graduates are professional - employ up-to-date and relevant knowledge and skills
1. UC graduates are professional - take pride in their professional and personal integrity
1. UC graduates are professional - use creativity, critical thinking, analysis and research skills to solve theoretical and real-world problems
1. UC graduates are professional - work collaboratively as part of a team, negotiate, and resolve conflict
2. UC graduates are global citizens - adopt an informed and balanced approach across professional and international boundaries
2. UC graduates are global citizens - communicate effectively in diverse cultural and social settings
2. UC graduates are global citizens - make creative use of technology in their learning and professional lives
2. UC graduates are global citizens - think globally about issues in their profession
2. UC graduates are global citizens - understand issues in their profession from the perspective of other cultures
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - adapt to complexity, ambiguity and change by being flexible and keen to engage with new ideas
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - be self-aware
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - evaluate and adopt new technology
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - reflect on their own practice, updating and adapting their knowledge and skills for continual professional and academic development

Prerequisites

11372 Introduction to Data Science

Corequisites

None.

Incompatible units

11520 Data Capture and Preparations G

Equivalent units

None.

Assumed knowledge

Working knowledge of discrete mathematics, algebra and numerical analysis.