3 Sheep Analytics

Top tips for A/B testing.
http://www.3sheepanalytics.com/news/2017/6/8/top-11-ab-testing-tips

Zero is not the same as a missing value and the two should rarely be interchanged.
http://www.3sheepanalytics.com/news/2017/3/26/zero-is-not-the-same-as-missing

Zero is Not the Same as Missing Zero is not the same as a missing value. A missing value indicates something is unknown and it is almost never appropriate to substitute one for the other. Many people substitute missing values with a zero to make their graphs look better or prepare the data for modeling. However, a zero ind

Need to create a dashboard? Keep in mind these best practice tips.
http://www.3sheepanalytics.com/news/2017/3/19/d4-dashboarding-for-data-driven-decisions

Dashboarding for Data Driven Decisions Getting information in a timely, easy to understand way is not only expected by business professionals, it is necessary for businesses to stay competitive. Dashboards allow a user to get needed information at a glance. Stephen Few, a data visualization expert, defines a dashboard as, “a visual

Looking to hire a unicorn?
http://www.3sheepanalytics.com/news/2016/11/12/how-to-hire-a-data-scientist

How to hire a data scientist So you've decided you want to hire a data scientist. What kind of considerations should you make when writing the job description? How can you find the best person for the type of work you want done? First we look at what the definition of what a data scientist is. Data scientists are generally expe...

I've seen many articles questioning how the analytics could be so far off. This is not exactly accurate. The conclusion was wrong, but the predicted probabilities were not far off.
http://www.3sheepanalytics.com/news/2016/11/9/what-data-science-cant-predict

What data science can’t predict Many may be shocked that Nate Silver didn’t accurately predict the outcome of the US election, getting some of the key states wrong. If you don’t know who Nate Silver is, in short, he is a data geek (he hates the term data scientist) who has gained fame from correct political and sports predictions,...

I'll be speaking at the IoT conference in Auckland on November 1st. http://www.3sheepanalytics.com/news/2016/10/20/internet-of-things-conference-auckland-2016

Internet of Things Conference Auckland, 2016 I'll be speaking about analytics in the IoT world on November 1st. If you're attending, check out "A new dynamic: Tying analytics and machine learning with IoT" in the afternoon sessions.

Well done to our Kiwi athletes in the Paralympics who have already competed and good luck to those who will compete in the coming week.
http://www.3sheepanalytics.com/news/2016/9/12/fun-with-paralympic-stats

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There are heaps of things one can do with predictive analytics:
http://www.datasciencecentral.com/profiles/blogs/top-20-uses-of-statistical-modeling

24 Uses of Statistical Modeling (Part I) Here we discuss general applications of statistical models, whether they arise from data science, operations research, engineering, machine learning or statist…

Fun with Olympics statistics:
http://www.3sheepanalytics.com/news/2016/8/11/some-fun-olympic-stats

Some Fun Olympic Stats At the time of this writing, Michael Phelps just got his 22nd gold medal and New Zealand's Eric Murray and Hamish Bond got the 43rd New Zealand gold medal ever. In other words, if Phelps was a Kiwi, he would have more than half of the gold medals won by the country since the first Kiwis competed in…

Congratulations to Hamish Bond and Eric Murray for their gold in rowing, Luuka Jones for her silver in canoe slalom and the Kiwi cyclists for their Olympic record!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/83090966/rio-olympics-2016-backtoback-mens-pair-gold-medals-for-hamish-bond-eric-murray

Back-to-back golds New Zealand has its first gold medal of Rio Olympics. And who else but the men's pair.

Another way to mislead your audience through graphing:
http://www.3sheepanalytics.com/news/2016/8/7/another-misleading-graph

Another Misleading Graph In general, using images in your graph should be avoided. Similar to using a bar graph with a vertical axis starting above zero, using images in your graph can mislead an audience. An image is generally perceived as having volume. Increasing the image size to meet the y-axis value desired, is visual...

Beware of misleading graphs:
http://www.3sheepanalytics.com/news/2016/6/16/misleading-visualizations-cropping-axis-on-bar-graphs

Misleading Visualizations: Cropping Axis on Bar Graphs One of the most common problems in graphs is the use of a cropped axis in a bar graph. This can lead to a visually overstated difference between two numbers. In the graph on the left, which was automatically was created by Excel, Campaign B looks greatly more successful than the other campaigns in t...