SAS Learning Post

Analytics

Find out how analytics, from data mining to cognitive computing, is changing the way we do business

Analytics | Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Robert AllisonMarch 30, 2015 8

Paint it black: A song choice or a graph background?

This blog post discusses the use of a black background in a graph. But before we get started, I invite you to have a listen to one of my favorite songs - "Paint it Black" by the Rolling Stones. Perhaps this song subliminally persuaded people to use black backgrounds in

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Analytics | Data Visualization

Robert AllisonMarch 26, 2015 1

Who paid $500k for a US visa? Over 10,000 people!

Having spent many years in graduate school, and living in the Research Triangle Park (RTP) in North Carolina, I have a lot of friends from other countries. Therefore when I recently saw some stories & graphs about EB-5 visas (where you invest a cool half-million US $ to bypass the

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Government

Analytics | Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Robert AllisonMarch 25, 2015 1

Spotting a misleading chart

Everyone loves a good conspiracy theory - hopefully you'll enjoy mine about the number of US E1 visas! I was perusing some of the US government charts, and found one on US immigration visas that caught my attention. It was a 3D bar chart, and since I always mistrust 3D

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Analytics | Data Visualization | Programming Tips

Robert AllisonMarch 24, 2015 6

When art and analytics collide

The best graphs are both beautiful and informative - a smooth blend of art and analytics. But more often than not, the two collide rather than blending smoothly... Here is a link to a artistic infographic I recently saw posted by Vendavo on twitter. Their message (80% of your profit is generated

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Analytics | Data Visualization

Robert AllisonMarch 20, 2015 12

Euro vs Dollar exchange rate: An historic event?

I recently read a Washington Post article about the euro versus the dollar, and I wanted to analyze the data myself to see whether the article was simply stating the facts, or "sensationalizing" things. The washingtonpost.com article started with the headline, "This is historic: The dollar will soon be worth

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Banking | Government

Analytics | Data Visualization

Robert AllisonMarch 19, 2015 14

What's your opinion on daylight saving time?

Is daylight saving time the ultimate in efficiency, or is it living a lie? Here are some graphs that might help facilitate a discussion on this topic ... With daylight saving time (DST), a whole geo/political area (such as a country) decides to set their clocks forward an hour during

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Analytics | Data Visualization

Robert AllisonMarch 17, 2015 0

Tracking billionaires with beauty and accuracy

Which is more important - having beautiful graphs, or accurate graphs? Let's explore this question using the locations of the world's richest billionaires... I recently saw a beautiful map on dadaviz.com that purported to show the cities with the most billionaires. Here's a screen-capture of that map: I decided to

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Banking

Analytics

David SmithMarch 13, 2015 3

So what should ‘the data’ have told England cricket coach Peter Moores?

England’s shambolic early exit from the Cricket World Cup has stirred up a hornet’s nest about the team’s supposed over-reliance on data. In the aftermath of their defeat to Bangladesh, coach Peter Moores said: ‘We thought 275 (runs) was chaseable. We’ll have to look at the data.’ It prompted outrage from

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Analytics | Data Visualization

Robert AllisonMarch 11, 2015 7

Where are your Girl Scout cookies made?

I just found out that Girl Scout cookies haven't changed from when I was a kid. I just moved to a different area, serviced by a different cookie maker! That's what I found out from the cool map in an article on latimes.com! The article explains that there are two different

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Retail

Analytics

Maggie MillerMarch 10, 2015 0

6 questions with social network analysis expert, Carlos Andre Reis Pinheiro

Beyond traditional clustering and predictive models lies social network analysis. It can help describe customers’ behaviors in new ways, but what exactly is it and how can businesses use it? To find out more, I interviewed Carlos Andre Reis Pinheiro. He’s been working in social network analysis around the world

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Blogs

Blogs

Analytics