Data Science For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Chapter 4

Math, Probability, and Statistical Modeling

IN THIS CHAPTER

Introducing the core basics of statistical probability

Quantifying correlation

Reducing dataset dimensionality

Building decision models with multiple criteria decision-making

Diving into regression methods

Detecting outliers

Talking about time series analysis

Math and statistics are not the scary monsters that many people make them out to be. In data science, the need for these quantitative methods is simply a fact of life — and nothing to get alarmed over. Although you must have a handle on the math and statistics that are necessary to solve a problem, you don’t need to go study for degrees in those fields.

Contrary to what many pure statisticians would have you believe, the data science field isn’t the same as the ...