Data science has been a persistently popular field lately, cropping up in job reports and listicle articles for recommended career paths. With all these headlines, you may wonder though – how is data science used, and where can you see its implications in everyday life?
At its heart, data science is the study of information. Companies use it to help make business decisions, solve complex problems, and create strategies to improve results and performance. It is essential to every industry, from understanding water use and air quality to creating a more sustainable society and helping insurance companies mitigate risk.
The data science field is evolving and growing almost as quickly as the amount of information generated and collected across the globe increases.
Every industry — from retail and social media to sports and space travel — uses data science to make intelligent, data-driven decisions.
How Is Data Science Used?
Data science deals with the enormous amount of information generated from business operations, medical research, and nearly every other endeavor. Businesses and corporations are drowning in data. They want to use this data to unlock insights and drive growth.
Data science uses complex machine learning algorithms to build predictive models. It blends tools, algorithms, and machine learning principles to uncover patterns from raw data and visualize them for non-technical audiences.
This analytical field is also the cornerstone of artificial intelligence (AI), deep learning, and machine learning.
Deep learning analyzes videos, images, and unstructured data in ways machine learning cannot. Machine learning is more about computers that can think and act with less human intervention. AI encompasses all of this and attempts to make machines think and act more like humans.
Sub-categories for the field subcategories include:
- Data Engineering
- Data Mining
- Mathematics
- Statistics
- Advanced Computing
- Model Visualization
Data science collects your actions, organizes them with your other activities and those of others, looks for patterns, and creates an output, like a recommendation, based on the information found.
How Is Data Science Changing The World?
Data science enables those using it to make more informed decisions about the future.
Its use improves decision-making processes in business, medicine, science, and almost every other field or industry. It helps uncover patterns and provides predictive analysis so that organizations can anticipate the results of their next move.
From treating drug and alcohol addiction to fighting poverty, data science is used for the greater good of society.
The world already uses it to predict disruptions in travel and optimize the airline industry. It’s used for decisions in retail, like furniture shopping, and streamlines treatment discovery in medicine. For instance, Operation Warp Speed – the worldwide development effort of the COVID-19 vaccine – would not have been possible without this field.
If you want a career where you can use your analytical skills to change the world, this field can lead to a lucrative career with vast employment and career growth opportunities. Demand continues to rise, and the average pay in the U.S. for a Data Scientist is around $119,686* annually, according to ZipRecruiter.
Will You Change The World?
If you want to join this high-growth, impactful, and lucrative field, then you’ll likely need to acquire some new skills first. Flatiron School’s Data Science course can get you industry-ready in as little as 15 weeks.
With curriculum tailored to in-demand skills, experienced instructors, and individualized career coaching for up to 180 days after graduation, Flatiron prepares you for success.
Apply to Flatiron School today.
*Salaries cited current as of September 2022
