Principles of Big Data

Glossary

Accuracy and precision,    Accuracy measures how close your data comes to being correct. Precision provides a measurement of reproducibility (i.e., whether repeated measurements of the same quantity produce the same result). Data can be accurate but imprecise. If you have a 10-pound object and you report its weight as 7.2376 pounds every time you weigh the object, then your precision is remarkable, but your accuracy is dismal.

Algorithm,    Algorithms are perfect machines. They never make mistakes; they need no fuel; they never wear down; they are spiritual, not physical. The ability to use Big Data effectively depends on the availability of appropriate algorithms. In the past half-century, many brilliant algorithms have been developed ...