Blogs

Blogs

Uncategorized

Jeremy RacineJune 23, 2014 0

Beyond health data: Alternative data sources could give unprecedented view of patient health, costs

The healthcare big data revolution has only just begun. Current efforts percolating around the country primarily surround aggregation of clinical electronic health records (EHRs) & administrative healthcare claims. These healthcare big data initiatives are gaining traction and could produce exciting enhancements to the effectiveness and efficiency of the US healthcare

Read More

Rick WicklinJune 23, 2014 0

Creating ODS graphics from the SAS/IML language

As you develop a program in the SAS/IML language, it is often useful to create graphs to visualize intermediate results. The language supports basic statistical graphics such as bar charts, histograms, scatter plots, and so on. However, you can create more advanced graphics without leaving PROC IML by using the

Read More

Data Management

Renee NockerJune 20, 2014 0

IT controls all things data: Falser than it’s ever been….

Having spent a good part of my career “owning” the data hub in IT for analytics solutions, I think I can say, the myth that IT controls all things data has become less and less true through the years – and eventually it will be completely false. Or maybe it

Read More

SAS ColombiaJune 19, 2014 0

Lo que usted debería saber acerca del “Internet de las cosas”

Usted probablemente ha oído hablar del Internet de las Cosas. Por si no lo ha escuchado, es ese concepto que habla de que los dispositivos conectados a Internet pueden transmitir datos de un lado a otro y se comunican entre sí para tomar decisiones o enviar notificaciones sin intervención humana.

Read More

Analytics

Erin RobbinsJune 19, 2014 0

Pay nothing, gain everything: SAS introduces no-cost software for higher education

Last month, SAS launched our new no-cost software for higher education teaching, learning and research – SAS® University Edition. Available to students, professors, academic researchers and lifelong learners, SAS University Edition provides local access to BASE SAS®, SAS/STAT® software, SAS® Studio, SAS/IML® software and SAS/ACCESS® Interface to PC Files. SAS University Edition

Read More

Advanced Analytics

Udo SglavoJune 18, 2014 0

Combined forecasts: what to do when one model isn’t good enough

My esteemed colleague and recently-published author Jared Dean shared some thoughts on how ensemble models help make better predictions. For predictive modeling, Jared explains the value of two main forms of ensembles --bagging and boosting. It should not be surprising that the idea of combining predictions from more than one

Read More

Jim HarrisJune 18, 2014 0

The data that supported the decision

Data-driven journalism has driven some of my recent posts. I blogged about turning anecdote into data and how being data-driven means being question-driven. The latter noted the similarity between interviewing people and interviewing data. In this post I want to examine interviewing people about data, especially the data used by people to drive

Read More

Advanced Analytics

Rick WicklinJune 18, 2014 0

Approximating a distribution from published quantiles

A colleague asked me an interesting question: I have a journal article that includes sample quantiles for a variable. Given a new data value, I want to approximate its quantile. I also want to simulate data from the distribution of the published data. Is that possible? This situation is common.

Read More

Students & Educators

Nadja YoungJune 17, 2014 0

South Carolina teacher evaluation system supporting professional growth

Today it is common knowledge that a classroom teacher is the single largest in-school influence on student academic growth[1]. So when South Carolina received ESEA flexibility in July, 2012, the State Department of Education immediately began an initiative empowering teachers to increase their own effectiveness. Known as the Educator Evaluation System

Read More

Education | Government

Leo SadovyJune 17, 2014 0

External data: Radar for your business

How much of your business performance (profit) is driven by external factors versus internal? A figure of 85% compared to 15% was mentioned at last month’s Manufacturing Analytics Summit, and although I could not find the study mentioned to confirm, it feels about right to me. Certainly more than half,

Read More

Data Management

Jose EtchegoyenJune 16, 2014 0

Series: BCBS 239 – Principle 11

Principle 11: Risk management reports should be distributed to the relevant parties while ensuring confidentiality is maintained. Early in 2013, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) issued guidelines for banks regarding risk data aggregation and reporting. Known collectively as BCBC 239, these principles were designed to ensure that banks

Read More

Rick WicklinJune 16, 2014 0

Convenient functions vs. efficient subroutines: Your choice

I've pointed out in the past that in the SAS/IML language matrices are passed to modules "by reference." This means that large matrices are not copied in and out of modules but are updated "in place." As a result, the SAS/IML language can be very efficient when it computes with

Read More

Advanced Analytics | Analytics

Mike GillilandJune 13, 2014 0

Weather forecasts: deterministic, probabilistic or both?

In 1965's Subterranean Homesick Blues, Bob Dylan taught us: You don't need a weatherman / To know which way the wind blows In 1972's You Don't Mess Around with Jim, Jim Croce taught us: You don't spit into the wind By combining these two teachings, one can logically conclude that:

Read More

Advanced Analytics

Rick WicklinJune 13, 2014 0

Geometry, sensitivity, and parameters of the lognormal distribution

Today is my 500th blog post for The DO Loop. I decided to celebrate by doing what I always do: discuss a statistical problem and show how to solve it by writing a program in SAS. Two ways to parameterize the lognormal distribution I recently blogged about the relationship between

Read More

Learn SAS

Chris Hemedinger

Chris HemedingerJune 12, 2014 0

New course: Developing Custom Tasks for SAS Enterprise Guide

This probably won't surprise any of my regular readers: "SAS custom tasks" is one of my favorite topics to talk about. Since 2007, I've written blogs about how you can use custom tasks to extend SAS Enterprise Guide and the SAS Add-In for Microsoft Office. I've shared lots of examples,

Read More

Advanced Analytics | Analytics

Mike GillilandJune 12, 2014 0

Guest blogger: Len Tashman previews Summer 2014 issue of Foresight

Our tradition from Foresight’s birth in 2005 has been to feature a particular topic of interest and value to practicing forecasters. These feature sections have covered a wide range of areas: the politics of forecasting, how and when to judgmentally adjust statistical forecasts, forecasting support systems, why we should

Read More

Analytics

Eric HunleyJune 12, 2014 0

Projecting prison resources in North Carolina with analytics

In 1990, the North Carolina General Assembly created the Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission to evaluate sentencing laws and policies and recommend any modifications necessary to achieve policy goals. As part of the mandate, the General Assembly required the Sentencing Commission to develop a correctional population simulation model. The model

Read More

Analytics | Data Management

Analytics Hollywood Star

Suzanne ClaytonJune 12, 2014 0

Analytics should have a starring role in Hollywood

From managing excess DVD inventory to optimizing digital distribution channels, Hollywood’s supply chain transformation in the last decade has been massive. Knowing this background, and having spent a good part of my life surrounded by the entertainment industry, I was intrigued and inspired by the recent Entertainment Supply Chain Academy

Read More

SAS ColombiaJune 11, 2014 0

El fútbol y la analítica ahora juegan en el mismo equipo

La tecnología se ha convertido en el nuevo asistente técnico de los equipos de fútbol y está claro que el uso de la analítica puede contribuir al éxito en el campo, la tribuna o la taquilla. La utilización de software para analizar datos genera resultados impactantes en los equipos de

Read More

Analytics | Data for Good | Data Visualization

Robert AllisonJune 11, 2014 0

Tracking sea turtles with SAS

SAS software can be used for many things - here's how you could use it to help save endangered sea turtles! You've seen SAS used to track endangered wildlife by the shape of their footprints, and help run Texas Parks & Wildlife. Now, how about tracking the movements of (and thereby helping

Read More

Jim HarrisJune 11, 2014 0

Being data-driven means being question-driven

At the Journalism Interactive 2014 conference, Derek Willis spoke about interviewing data, his advice for becoming a data-driven journalist. “The bulk of the skills involved in interviewing people and interviewing data are actually pretty similar,” Willis explained. “We want to get to know it a little bit. We want to figure

Read More

Jack HymansonJune 11, 2014 0

Getting demand in shape

For supply chain managers and analysts Getting Demand in Shape can mean collecting the most pertinent data to support specific business processes and activities. Identifying new or previously unused data sources can be especially important. My most recent article titled “Getting Demand in Shape” in the May / June issue of APICS magazine

Read More

Rick WicklinJune 11, 2014 0

How to find an initial guess for an optimization

Nonlinear optimization routines enable you to find the values of variables that optimize an objective function of those variables. When you use a numerical optimization routine, you need to provide an initial guess, often called a "starting point" for the algorithm. Optimization routines iteratively improve the initial guess in an

Read More

Chris Hemedinger

Chris HemedingerJune 10, 2014 0

Add a stars-style rating column to your SAS output

Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches Had bellies with stars. The Plain-Belly Sneetches Had none upon thars. - from "The Sneetches", by Dr. Seuss Recently a user on the SAS-L mailing list had this challenge: "I would like to display stars in a table (created by PROC REPORT) based on variable values.

Read More

Students & Educators

Nadja YoungJune 10, 2014 0

Teacher effectiveness culture shifts in Lubbock ISD schools – Part 3: The Superintendent

This is part 3 of a blog series on how Lubbock Independent School District (Lubbock ISD) uses SAS® EVAAS to improve teaching and learning by promoting self-reflection and aiding instructional and administrative decision-making. This is done in a district that, in the past decade, has experienced dramatic increases in the percentage

Read More

Education | Government

Learn SAS

Stephen MistlerJune 10, 2014 0

Producing normal density plots with shading

When teaching statistics, it is often useful to produce a normal density plot with shading under the curve. For example, consider a one-sided hypothesis test. An alpha value of .05 would correspond to a Z-score cutoff of 1.645. This means that 95% of a standard normal curve falls below a

Read More

Students & Educators

Nadja YoungJune 9, 2014 0

Teacher effectiveness culture shifts in Lubbock ISD schools – Part 2: The Principals

This is part 2 of a blog series on how Lubbock Independent School District (Lubbock ISD) uses SAS® EVAAS to improve teaching and learning by promoting self-reflection and aiding instructional and administrative decision-making. This is done in a district that, in the past decade, has experienced dramatic increases in the

Read More

Education | Government

Sunny ZhangJune 9, 2014 0

Series: BCBS 239 - Principle 10

Principle 10: Frequency – The board and senior management (or other recipients as appropriate) should set the frequency of risk management report production and distribution. BCBS 239 “Effective Risk Data Aggregation & Risk Reporting”, released in January of 2013, specifically requires that the bank’s board and senior management should be

Read More

Advanced Analytics | Learn SAS

Rick WicklinJune 9, 2014 0

How to generate a grid of points in SAS

In many areas of statistics, it is convenient to be able to easily construct a uniform grid of points. You can use a grid of parameter values to visualize functions and to get a rough feel for how an objective function in an optimization problem depends on the parameters. And

Read More

Data Visualization

Ian JonesJune 6, 2014 0

Trade Surveillance: Watching you watching me

“Technological innovation is no longer a choice: it is an imperative.” So said Scott O’Malia, Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, about trade surveillance during his keynote address at the recent SAS-sponsored New Risk in Energy 2014 conference in Houston. He was attempting, as he has before, to spur

Read More

Previous 1 … 194 195 196 197 198 … 255 Next