big data in insurance
Jonathan Buchanan's Winter 2018 Independent Study
For the first day of my independent study, I planned to install all of the tools necessary for the next three weeks and familiarize myself with them. The software I needed includes: R, Rstudio, Tableau, and SAS. My goal was to become familiar with these to the extent that I had enough foundational knowledge to learn more advanced concepts without struggling. These tools will provide me with a basic understanding of manipulating and presenting data visually in order to analyze them on a deeper level. After installing all the required software, the first tool I used was R. R is a programming language designed for statistical analysis that has the ability to manipulate data and generate graphs, among many other capabilities. I used the resource Try R to learn the basics because it was a simple and brief introduction, yet it covered many concepts. What I learned includes basic syntax, data structures such as vectors and matrices, loading data from files, and generating simple graphs. The other software package that I took time to use was Tableau, which is an application for presenting data in a visually appealing style that aids analysis. I followed the beginning tutorial (which deals with sales data of a fictional retailer) on the Tableau website to get a feel for the software. I learned that you can import multiple datasets and combine them based on a common category (such as transaction id) and then analyze the combined data and metrics. While following the tutorial, I created several "worksheets" (graphics) displaying the data in meaningful ways, one of which is displayed at the top of the page. Overall, I thought installing these tools was a fairly simple task, but still vital to the rest of my independent study. It was rewarding for me to learn the basics of R and Tableau and get polished results in a short period of time such as the table I displayed above. However, I hoped to get to using Rstudio and SAS, but I didn't have enough time, so I want to spend some time looking at the basics of those utilities tomorrow. I found it challenging to stay focused a few times, but I think overall I did a good job diving into the tools I will be using. Tomorrow, I plan to familiarize myself with Rstudio and SAS, and work with R even more if time permits. I also want to build an in-depth understanding of the principles of modern healthcare before my first day at Paramount (Tuesday).
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