Project Template#
An outline for writing a data science article#
Before starting to write the final article for this course, I suggest you read A guide to writing scientific text. The final article should be a list of bullet points instead of paragraphs [1] following the outline below.
Title#
Please include,
a suitable title
your names
student numbers
Abstract (250 words or less)#
State what we know about the subject/problem/big picture
Explain what we don’t know, which is basically a larger theoretical or practical puzzle or gap in the literature
State or describe your research question and explain how you answer that question
Briefly describe the data that you use to answer your research question
State what you find
If necessary, describe what these findings suggest about the answer to your research question
Explain why these findings are important
Introduction#
Describe the puzzle or gap in the literature that you will address with your data
What do we know?
What do we not know?
What will you tell us?
Identify your research question and explain how you answer it
What question will you answer?
What data will you use to answer this question?
What do you find?
Explain the importance of your findings
What is the answer to your research question?
How does this answer broaden, clarify, or challenge existing knowledge/theories?
Exploratory Data Analysis#
Provide a brief overview of the study: an outline that tells the reader how all of the following methods and analysis will be connected.
Start by describing all the different data you will be using and answer some of the following questions
why you chose it
how you gained access to it
describe the research site, which city, which infrastructure and/or populations you are studying
If the data is collected over time or through experiments/scraping, describe the setup you created or utilised and the data you collected.
Describe your process to interrogate and analyse the data (i.e., how you cleaned, and prepared the data, analysed it, and modeled it).
Describe the limitations of your data and study (i.e., explain how your study is limited by your data and methodological choices)
Discuss the source of errors or missing values in your data and how you addressed those limitations (it is okay to acknowledge something is broken and describe ways in which some of the it has been addressed in your study).
Analysis (Only what is necessary and sufficient to address your research question)#
State your argument and experimental design (i.e., the methods used to model data. For example, did you cluster your data spatially or infer what variables give the most information about a certain variable of interest using a supervised learning algorithm?)
carefully explain your choice of modelling.
Identify 2-3 supporting points – how your data and output of modelling support your argument
Identify 2-3 patterns in the data that provide evidence for each supporting point
For each pattern: (use figures wherever required as evidence and insight into your data)
Describe an example from your data that typifies this pattern
Provide a brief excerpt for any outliers in your data
Briefly explain how this example represents the larger pattern
Briefly explain how this pattern provides evidence for the supporting point
*Note: Everything that you include in your analysis should directly support your argument, and that argument should be the answer to your research question. A clear structure (with topic sentences and transitions) is very important for writing an analysis that meets this goal. If you did 500 things that are not relevant for your research question because you did not learn anything from it, do not include those observations.
Discussion/Conclusion#
Summarize your findings
Remind readers of the puzzle/gap in the literature that you are trying to solve
Remind readers of the specific research question that you have addressed
Briefly review what you found
Briefly explain what these findings imply about the answer to your research question
Discuss the implications of your findings
Explain how your findings solve the puzzle or fill the gap in the literature
Explain how the resolution of this gap/puzzle helps to clarify, challenge, or expand existing knowledge or theory
Using existing literature, explain why your findings are or are not surprising
Identify possible explanations for your findings
Use existing research to discuss the most likely explanation for your findings
Consider alternative explanations for your findings and explain (using your data and/or other research) why these alternative explanations do or do not seem plausible
Conclude by reviewing why these findings (and the larger puzzle/gap they address) are important
References/Bibliography#
A list of references in APA format