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Photo by Jonathan Acuña (2018)

Business Understanding
The first stage of Data Science

By Prof. Jonathan Acuña-Solano, M. Ed.

Head of Curriculum Development Senior Language Professor

Academic Department School of English
Centro Cultural Costarricense- Faculty of Social Sciences
Norteamericano Universidad Latina de Costa Rica

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Post 338 / DS Log 7

Data Science is quite peculiar when it comes to the steps one has to follow
in order to start the process of comprehending what exactly needs to be addressed
when a company’s problem needs to be explored, understood, and then resolved.
But why is it so essential to establish the “business understanding” at the start of
the Data Science methodology? Let’s explore some potential answers to this
question especially when linked to a very specific problem.
 “Business understanding is the first
stage of the data science methodology; it
provides clarity about the problem to be
solved and the data that should be used”
(Laureate Education Inc., 2018). When a data
scientist is given a problem that needs to be explained and then solved, that query
posed by company stakeholders can be misunderstood if this process is not carried
out; it is a matter of perception in the end. The company need to explain the
problem they have in full to the scientist(s); details cannot be omitted. The
scientist(s) must comprehend the problem to help the company formulate the right
questions to obtain the right guidance to gather data. With these discussions
among the company and the scientist(s), business understanding will help
determine that kind of methodological approach needed: descriptive or predictive.

Business Problem Sample: 1) The scientist has to sit with the

A language school whose students are
not obtaining the expected CEFR
outcome at the end of its program
2) Understanding how the school is
being affected by a poor performance
of their graduating students will help
stakehoders to formulate the right
question(s) to ask to set the data
requirements to gather information.
school’s academic stakeholders to be
explained what exactly the problem is
and its current implications for the
institution, its reputation, and how
graduate students are perceived in the
work market in the country.
3) This open and sincere discussion
with the school academic stakeholders
will provide room to comprehend why
the problem needs to be given a
solution, the reasons why the current
state of affairs has to be amended.
 “To establish business understanding,
structured discussions with different
stakeholders must happen so that the
research focus (goals and objectives) can be
classified” (Laureate Education Inc., 2018). It
is crucial to clarify at this point that these “discussions” cannot just be held to ask
company contributors what they want in terms of the enterprise’s problem;
consultations have to be organized to get to the gist of the research focus needed
to find solutions to the problem. Team members must come from different areas
in a company; business understanding cannot just be provided by one single
individual. And through all these deliberations goals and objectives also need to
be clearly stated in the minds of company’s stakeholders and the data scientist(s).
Forgetting this simple step in business understanding may trigger the wrong
results.

Business Problem Sample: 1) Rounds of discussions must be

organized with the school academic
A language school whose students are stakeholders to fully clarify what the
not obtaining the expected CEFR gist of the project and its scope are.
outcome at the end of its program The research focus needs to be clearly
stated because results can be wrong.
2) The group of academic contributors 3) All members of the academic team
must come from different areas of the must have clearly stated -in their
department. This is not just about an mind- the goals and objectives of
academic director’s perception; it has finding the reasons why students are
to come from all areas that not achieving the correct CEFR level.
constituted the department. Everyone has to embrace the project.

“Once a business understanding is in

place, key business partners can remain
engaged and provide support and guidance
to project members” (Laureate Education
Inc., 2018). Company’s team members must
remain part of the project; they cannot detach themselves from the data
scientist(s) assigned to the business strategy to find solutions to a problem. As
active members in the process, company’s partners are present to support the
data analysts by providing them with any other vital information (such as
databases) to walk the right track towards the finding of (an) answer(s) to the
stakeholders’ question(s). The engagement we are talking about is manifested in
the establishment of a business understanding and in the guidance needed when
scientists may be missing a piece of the puzzle to comprehend the company’s
problem.

Business Problem Sample: 1) Though there are structured

A language school whose students are
not obtaining the expected CEFR
outcome at the end of its program
2) Academic collaborators support the
data scientist(s) when they contribute
with information to consolidate the
conversations among the academic
stakeholders, they need to remain
part of the project and not just stay
aside and wait for results. These
people help in discovering solutions.
3) Academic engagement will be
present all across the process since as
team players, they can provide the
business understanding here linked to data science group with guidance
the poor CEFR performance of the especially when a piece of the puzzle
school’s language learners. is missing in its right position.

As a first stage in Data Science,

business understanding is decisive and
imperative. Lack of understanding among all
participants in a data science team can lead
to formulating wrong questions and obtaining
inaccurate answers. In the example used in this presentation of facts associated
to the language school, there are plenty of people involved in the search for an
answer as to why their learners are not achieving the mastery of the CEFR level
the program aims at. Their participation in the process to find answers to the
questions they pose as central will determine the goals, objectives, and scope of
the possible answers they can obtain. As stakeholders they can make better
decisions in regards to what needs to me done to help their students become
competent English speakers.

References

Laureate Education Inc. (2018). Asking Questions with Data Science. Retrieved
from One Faculty:
https://dtl.laureate.net/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course
_id=_165016_1&content_id=_801203_1&mode=reset