Data Science Project Design

Catalog description

Students must pursue an independent or small group research project that utilizes the data science methods acquired during the program to address a real problem. This one-credit design course requires that students identify a suitable project, including the data to be used, and the questions asked of the data. Depending upon a project's complexity, students work either individually or in small, approved teams. The problem statement and the data stem from real-world situations similar to those that students might encounter within industry, government, non-profit, or academic research. The problem is usually specified by an industry, governmental, or non-profit sponsor with the data sets provided by that sponsor. Academic and governmental research groups may also propose projects. Each project team is supervised by the course director (in some cases, with a relevant faculty advisor) and advised by the project coach assigned from the academic, governmental, or industry sponsor, generally representing the organization that supplied the data. A component of the design is the consideration of any ethical issues raised by the project. As such, the need for ethical actions with respect to data science is also studied. The project design is reviewed by the course director and either the program board or, in the case of confidential data, by the course director after a confidentially agreement is signed, and a group internal to the organization. The project design is reviewed by the course director and either the program board or, in the case of confidential data, by the course director after a confidentiality agreement is signed, and a group internal to the organization.