From the course: Data-Backed Decision Making
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Putting data together
From the course: Data-Backed Decision Making
Putting data together
- What if I told you that 100 babies were born yesterday? That is a datum, not data, and it's certainly not information. Why? Because there's no context. So here's some context. On a typical day, planet Earth receives just under 400,000 brand new babies. So if I said that 100 babies were born in the whole world yesterday, that would be serious cause for alarm. If I said 100 babies were born yesterday in Calistoga, California, you'd be waiting for the other shoe to drop. More context. You would need to know that the birth rate in the US in 2021 was 12 births per 1000 people per year, and you would need to know that Calistoga has a population just north of 5,000 people. That means we should expect 60 births a year, or about six per day. Now if I said 100 babies were born in Calistoga, California yesterday, that would be serious cause for alarm It's all about context. It's about comparing one number to another. I'm six feet tall. That's not very interesting, until you compare me to…
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