Lesson plan
Data reduction
Data reduction is the transformation of numerical or alphabetical digital information derived empirically or experimentally into a corrected, ordered, and simplified form. The purpose of data reduction can be two-fold: reduce the number of data records by eliminating invalid data or produce summary data and statistics at different aggregation levels for various applications. Data reduction does not necessarily mean loss of information. When information is derived from instrument readings there may also be a transformation from analog to digital form. When the data are already in digital form the 'reduction' of the data typically involves some editing, scaling, encoding, sorting, collating, and producing tabular summaries. When the observations are discrete but the underlying phenomenon is continuous then smoothing and interpolation are often needed. The data reduction is often undertaken in the presence of reading or measurement errors. Some idea of the nature of these errors is needed before the most likely value may be determined. An example in astronomy is the data reduction in the Kepler satellite. This satellite records 95-megapixel images once every six seconds, generating dozens of megabytes of data per second, which is orders-of-magnitudes more than the downlink bandwidth of 550 kB/s.…
Article summary
Data reduction is the transformation of numerical or alphabetical digital information derived empirically or experimentally into a corrected, ordered, and simplified form. The purpose of data reduction can be two-fold: reduce the number of data records by eliminating invalid data or produce summary data and statistics at different aggregation levels for various applications. Data reduction does not necessarily mean loss of information. When information is derived from instrument readings there may also be a transformation from analog to digital form. When the data are already in digital form the 'reduction' of the data typically involves some editing, scaling, encoding, sorting, collating, and producing tabular summaries. When the observations are discrete but the underlying phenomenon is continuous then smoothing and interpolation are often needed. The data reduction is often undertaken in the presence of reading or measurement errors. Some idea of the nature of these errors is needed before the most likely value may be determined. An example in astronomy is the data reduction in the Kepler satellite. This satellite records 95-megapixel images once every six seconds, generating dozens of megabytes of data per second, which is orders-of-magnitudes more than the downlink bandwidth of 550 kB/s.…
Key claims
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.