Good evening all.

My name is Seth and I'm 16yrs old.

I have been hearing about data science for some months now and I eventually stumbled upon an article that explains why data science is the in thing now and why I should go into it. Anyways so after reading the article I decided then that I wanted to be a data scientist, the idea of arranging unstructured and structured data and using it to make analysis really got me going.
Not too long after I researched data science and I found out that they are different areas in data science and that's when I found about data engineering and I also wanted to be one too. After that I have looked up their differences,salary ranges and all that, but I'm still not sure which area I want to go to.

So my question now is which area to go to build my career in.

I love kids like u.
Now u have taken a great path.
My advice now is for you to take python classes and R language classes.
Go deep into Excel both pivot table and power query. While on it learn SQL syntax.
B4 5 years you would be building AI and doing deep data modelling . To get started install Anaconda on yr PC. feel free to PM me

.

You want to go into Data science? It is a very good idea but I want you to know this.
No Nigerian University teach Data-Science as a course. Only some Rwandan universitieshasData-Science as course in the whole of Africa. A good substitute is statistics or mathematics. Not necessarily computer Science.
You can start learning immediately and depending on your enthusiasm become a professional within a year.
You don't need to finish book/course on python, R, Excel, SQL etc. Because u may get bored and change your mind. Datascience is practical and the more you get involved the more you learn. Just go to Datacamp.com and sign up for their beginner track, that way the journey would be interesting, there are lots of fun dataset to play with in sklearn and anytime you're stuck stackoverflow would come to your rescue.

Most importantly, don't fall for the "you don't need a university" trap. It is a big scam. While in the university, you get exposed to alot of stuffs. Most university have constant electricity and cheap data. You get away form your parents, you leave your comfort zone to live with like-minded people. Your. edu email can also give you access to things you normally can't afford. So please for your sake, if someone went through four years in the university and cannot make anything out of it, please let them not poison your mind about the system.

It is good as you opened up. Remember to always seek advice and borrow from other people's experience. See you at the top

Sync201:
Good evening all.

My name is Seth and I'm 16yrs old.

I have been hearing about data science for some months now and I eventually stumbled upon an article that explains why data science is the in thing now and why I should go into it. Anyways so after reading the article I decided then that I wanted to be a data scientist, the idea of arranging unstructured and structured data and using it to make analysis really got me going.
Not too long after I researched data science and I found out that they are different areas in data science and that's when I found about data engineering and I also wanted to be one too. After that I have looked up their differences,salary ranges and all that, but I'm still not sure which area I want to go to.

So my question now is which area to go to build my career in.

I love your spirit, I am a beginner too. I started with python, now exploring python libraries (NUMPY and PANDAS) on Jupyter Notebook. can we get to know each other better so that we can share knowledge and experience and also work on projects as we proceed.

Hey! I'm also into Data Science too. I'm just finishing with python basics. I'm a CS Undergrad too.
Let's get in touch so we can swap ideas and learn together.

Anyone trying to venture into Data science should know basic maths.The meat and bone of data science is Statistics. That's why some python and R libraries are built on statistical function. When u get to scikitlearn and statsmodel api then you know. Like people like us. It was just breeze through going into data science, I did biochemistry. I had to apply my knowledge into the field of data science..
My pure advice learn python(50%)..& of R
Then let yr thinking be intuitive
3. Master numpy and pandas
4.Understand basic stats function..

KolaSteven:
Hey! I'm also into Data Science too. I'm just finishing with python basics. I'm a CS Undergrad too.
Let's get in touch so we can swap ideas and learn together.

I sent you pm

KolaSteven:
Hey! I'm also into Data Science too. I'm just finishing with python basics. I'm a CS Undergrad too.
Let's get in touch so we can swap ideas and learn together.

Sent you a pm

Sync201:
Good evening all.

My name is Seth and I'm 16yrs old.

I have been hearing about data science for some months now and I eventually stumbled upon an article that explains why data science is the in thing now and why I should go into it. Anyways so after reading the article I decided then that I wanted to be a data scientist, the idea of arranging unstructured and structured data and using it to make analysis really got me going.
Not too long after I researched data science and I found out that they are different areas in data science and that's when I found about data engineering and I also wanted to be one too. After that I have looked up their differences,salary ranges and all that, but I'm still not sure which area I want to go to.

So my question now is which area to go to build my career in.

Go online.
Check this site out called Kaggle.

As you use Kaggle you should try and get your hands on as many books on:
•Python and R
•Data Science
•Machine Learning
•Artificial Intelligence
•SQL
•Feature Engineering
•Web Scraping
•Calculus
•Linear Algebra
•Statistics
•Optimization(optional)
•Natural Language Processing
•Get this book called "Data Scientists At Work"

You can easily find books online at:
www.b-ok.xyz
www.pdfdrive.net

And also, don't go for something because its the "thing" now. You are going to have to work hard to become a good data scientist. Rigorous knowledge of the topics I posted above is what separates mediocre data scientists from the best. Just look at Kaggle for example, its this same knowledge that separates people who enter competitions and get positions placed at 100+ and the others who come in within the top 10. Cause in truth most data scientists can use numpy, pandas, scikit-learn, keras, tensorflow bla bla. So if it was all about the libraries and packages you could use almost all data scientists would be equal.

Most companies cannot afford both a data scientist and a data engineer so data scientists should have the skills of a data engineer too. The choice of whether you want to become a data scientist or a data engineer is up to you and your research.

Remember theoretical knowledge is as important as the programming and computer aspects. And when you research you'll find that a lot of data scientists are unemployed, so don't think the field is so rosy.

Darivie04:


Go online.
Check this site out called Kaggle.

You should try and get your hands on as many books on:
•Python and R, Data Science, Machine Learning...

You can easily find books online at:
www.b-ok.xyz
www.pdfdrive.net

...Remember theoretical knowledge is as important as the programming and computer aspects. And when you research you'll find that a lot of data scientists are unemployed....

Your comment is on point.

People, unless you're learning this just for fun, you want make money! So, research well well before you invest time in this.

Question: Why is Data (pronounced Day tur) science a hot topic right now?
Answer: Big data, cloud computing, distributed computing

In other words giant companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Walmart... are gathering and generating exabytes of data. They are petabytes daily.

Byte < KiloByte < MegaByte < GigaByte < TeyaByte < PetaByte < ExaByte

Is it possible for human analysts to read through million, billion, trillion pages? Yes. Hundreds of thousands of full time workers!

That's why automation via data science is needed. With less than 20 data scientists, you'll automate analysis of the data, summarize them, and also make accurate predictions and recommendations.

Accountants typically take pieces of paper receipts. Companies use different formats for their receipts. The accountants also reconstruct poor / missing records and then create structured and correct information from the while mess.

With AI or Machine learning part of data science, you can creating structure from unstructured data.

For example, a code to automatically crawl through nairaland and extract emails, phone numbers and usernames. Then cross-reference those usernames to using Facebook, linkedin... find their real names and store the whole thing in Excel or a database.

As an analyst working for a retail or hotel chain, you'll be able to discover popular products, recommend which ones to drop, best time to give discounts, which season is best for which product, what gender, age group or marital status use which product...

In non-jungle countries politicians make use of data scientists to track the effectiveness of their campaigns, and their popularity. Trump, Hilary, even Obama did this.


Summary:
Figure out who's hiring Banks, giant mall chains, INEC, CBN?

Invest in Excel and Python. They'll make you employable in many industries in Nigeria as a statistician, programmer, accountant, analyst, economist... R? I'm not sure.

University studies: Do Nigerian universities teach this? Don't think so. Check

I'll recommend you study mathematics, statistics, economics in a Nigerian university. After all, data science is about automating what these professions do. And then, self-study for Python and Excel. Even though i feel a comp SCI degree is overrated, recruitment requirements will favor computer science degree holders.


If you fancy books, see the links above. The .xyz one is very good.

If you have data to download video video tutorials - YouTube is your friend.

I already learned SPSS but I don't know the one to learn next

Ayomidite:
I already learned SPSS but I don't know the one to learn next

Python, Excel.

Which ever you pick, focus on mastery. Get sample data to practice with.

You can check out Tech365 data science hands-on training here https://tech365.ng/data-science-training-in-lagos-nigeria/

@Chrisadigwe....good day. You were trying to reach me on my email...

Please can you reach me on Nairaland by quoting this post. So sorry for the stress