Chapter 7
Data Inspection Features

There are three broad kinds of data domains: cardinal, ordinal, and nominal. The first project in this chapter will guide you through the inspection of cardinal data; values like weights, measures, and durations where the data is continuous, as well as counts where the data is discrete. The second project will guide reasoners through the inspection of ordinal data involving things like dates, where order matters, but the data isn’t a proper measurement; it’s more of a code or designator. The nominal data is a code that happens to use digits but doesn’t represent numeric values. The third project will cover the more complex case of matching keys between separate data sources.

An inspection notebook is required when looking at new data. It’s a great place to keep notes and lessons learned. It’s helpful when diagnosing problems that arise in a more mature analysis pipeline.

This chapter will cover a number of skills...