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I believe the most important part of the analytics lifecycle is defining the business question being asked.
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Intransitive dice
Most games of skill are transitive. If Player A wins against Player B and Player B wins against Player C, then you expect Player A to win against Player C, should they play. Because of this, you can rank the players: A > B > C Interestingly, not all games
Webinar: What do we need to know about FVA?
On Friday Nov 27, 2:00pm GMT (9:00am EST in the US), Robert Fildes is presenting his latest research in the webinar "What do we need to know about Forecast Value Added?" This is part of the Lancaster University Centre for Marketing Analytics and Forecasting's "CMAF Friday Forecasting Talks." Here is
Why teams should draft more offensive linemen
In football, five out of the 11 players on offense are on the field to accomplish one goal: keep the defenders as far away from the ball as possible. Sometimes it’s more than five. Teams will bring extra linemen on short-play packages. Tight ends and full backs might check in
The SAS Hot Fix Analysis, Download and Deployment (SASHFADD) Tool
SAS' Sandy Gibbs kicks off a series of posts on hot fixes for SAS®9 environments.
Intentional Interactions Over the Holidays
It’s been a few years since I read Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering, but it continues to inspire me to think about purposefulness in relation to gathering. A good gathering, a good friendship, a good relationship; all are going to be the product of mindful and purposeful effort. As
3 ways data can help homeless youth
What comes to mind when you think of a “homeless person”? Chances are, you’ll picture an adult, probably male, dirty, likely with some health conditions, including a mental illness. Few of us would immediately recall homeless individuals as family members, neighbors, co-workers and other loved ones. Fewer still are likely aware of how many youths (both minors and young adults) experience homelessness annually. Homeless youth is a population who can
3 compelling reasons nonprofits are relying on analytics during the pandemic
It’s no surprise that nonprofit organizations providing health-related services are overconsumed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but what about other types of nonprofits? According to CNM President and CEO, Tina Weinfurther, the pandemic has affected nonprofits in different ways. Some are running on fumes, while others have doubled in size and
Decile plots in SAS
I previously showed how to create a decile calibration plot for a logistic regression model in SAS. A decile calibration plot (or "decile plot," for short) is used in some fields to visualize agreement between the data and a regression model. It can be used to diagnose an incorrectly specified
It's personal: SAS data scientists explore racial disparities in NYC housing data
Most New Yorkers like to fantasize about owning and living in a classic New York City brownstone, complete with high ceilings, large windows and a front stoop. You can picture yourself sitting there alongside the iron railing with a cup of coffee while you watch the city wake up and
Thomas Bayes’ theorem and “inverse probability”
The following is an excerpt from Cautionary Tales in Designed Experiments by David Salsburg. This book is available to download for free from SAS Press. The book aims to explain statistical design of experiments (DOE) to readers with minimal mathematical knowledge and skills. In this excerpt, you will learn about
Connect, learn and share during virtual SAS Global Forum 2021
If you’re like me and the rest of the conference team, you’ve probably attended more virtual events this year than you ever thought possible. You can see the general evolution of virtual events by watching the early ones from April or May and compare them to the recent ones. We
What do identity thieves covet the most?
Recently nine pharmacists from across the country were charged for their part in a $12.1M health care fraud scheme. The pharmacists allegedly took money for prescription medications that were neither purchased nor dispensed. The indictments further allege that the defendants billed Medicare and Medicaid for medications that were often medically unnecessary and for some medications that were purportedly dispensed to
How we’re reimagining data access on the cloud
You look to the cloud for several reasons – to meet your cloud-first strategy, for scalability or to adapt quickly to changing business demands. Maybe all three. Perhaps you need offerings to be available in various regions, or to reduce application response time and improve latency problems. Perhaps regulatory and compliance constraints are limiting (or mandating) the physical locations where your data can be stored and transmitted. This is why having a global data footprint is
Data science in the wild: On the home stretch
“It doesn’t stop being magic just because you know how it works.” Terry Pratchett, The Discworld Series Welcome to the third, and final, installment of Data Science in the Wild. In Part 1 we were lost in the woods thinking about how to start a data science project. In Part
Lucerne’s MSc data science program shines with SAS specializations
Machine learning and visualisation help - 250 students enrolled in the program across all years. Now the program started its third year ...
Accessing Google Cloud Storage (GCS) with SAS Viya
The story goes on to the tune of 90 percent of available data today has been created in the last two years! As SAS (and the computing world) moves to the cloud, the question of, "How do I deal with my data (Big and otherwise), which used to be on-prem,
COVID opens door to pervasive healthcare fraud
It's easy to get distracted by new developments in the fight against healthcare fraud. New services. New providers. Relaxation of rules. The COVID-19 pandemic has quickly revolutionized the healthcare landscape. For instance, the government made sweeping regulatory changes to accommodate a surge in patients. Healthcare delivery and payment organizations, commercial
Enhancing your Natural Language Processing: Intro to Conversational AI
Conversational AI can offer a way to provide that always-on 24/7, fast, convenient experience that can go anywhere (phone, computer smart speakers, even your car). It can provide a human-like experience through real-time, personalized interaction with AI running in the background. This technology is being applied across many industries for a variety of use cases (both customer-facing and for internal use).
The future of insurance with SAS Analytics on Azure
Learn how SAS and Microsoft can help insurers accelerate digital transformation efforts.
Power up with polyphenols
We’ve all heard that we need to eat more plant foods, but what is it about plant foods that make them so good for us? Plants foods have many benefits, but beyond their fiber, vitamin and mineral content is their amazing and powerful polyphenol content.
Winning the price war or gaining the customer's trust?
Today’s customer really expects a truly extraordinary customer experience. That means that your company, your brand and the experiences you provide are not just in competition with people in your category. They’re in competition with people like Amazon, Uber and Starbucks, who have managed to make the mobile device a
Create scoring data when regressors are correlated
To help visualize regression models, SAS provides the EFFECTPLOT statement in several regression procedures and in PROC PLM, which is a general-purpose procedure for post-fitting analysis of linear models. When scoring and visualizing a model, it is important to use reasonable combinations of the explanatory variables for the visualization. When
Fighting bribery and corruption with supplier integrity
Bribery and corruption continue to plague governments and organizations around the world. Brazil’s Operation Car Wash, the 1MDB scandal in Malaysia, the FIFA bribery case and many others continue to make headlines. The prevalence of widespread, coordinated corruption and bribery is alarming and seems to continue to grow, despite ongoing sanctions and fines meant to deter these
Navigating the internship offer process
You’ve put in the work – sending out countless resumes and perfecting your answers to questions like, “tell me about yourself,” and now it’s all paid off – the job offers are coming in. You thought the hard part was over, but now you have a big decision to make. How do
Adding insult to injury: Workplace safety and fraud
If a cinderblock falls from the 4th floor of a building and crushes a construction worker’s foot, it’s terrible. If it lands on his head, it’s truly tragic. But the difference is sheer luck. Every employee deserves to return home safely from work. Unfortunately, accidents happen, which is why employers must carry mandatory workers’ compensation
People behind the models: Carlos Pinheiro
As the COVID-19 virus jetted to pandemic status, folks around the company, including Carlos, were tapped to come up with data-driven solutions – fast. “Until we have a vaccine, one of the most effective ways to curb the spread of COVID-19 is by implementing Nonpharmaceutical Interventions, called ‘NPIs’,” Carlos explained.
Three tips for plotting discontinuous functions in SAS
I have previously written about how to plot a discontinuous function in SAS. That article shows how to use the GROUP= option on the SERIES statement to graph a discontinuous function. An alternative approach is to place a missing value for the Y variable at the locations at which the
Quality software starts with communication
SAS' Lynneth Lohse provides a window into how our quality culture benefits our software.
OpenGate platform helps air transport towards the new normal
SAS, uqudo and iLabs Technologies started a collaboration in OpenGate for touchless and safe travel. OpenGate, based on open source technology and open standards, offers a seamless, automated travel solution based on a reliable platform and technical solution. It enables sharing personal, health and location information between border control, air