[NFBCS] Question About Studying Data Science

[Brian Buhrow]

	Hello Dana.  Welcome to the list and I think you'll find  efficient ways to process data.
Undoubtedly you'll get as many diferent kinds of responses as there are people on this list,
but here are some of my techniques.   I'm writing you from the perspective of a blind person
who has worked in IT for 30 years and who has had to analyze different kinds of data over those
years.  With that said, here are some thoughts.

First, determine what kind of data it is.  Sighted folks are able to process large
quantities of data because they have developed tools that let them break that data down into
smaller, easier to understand data, often in the form of visual graphs, but not always, not
because they are sighted.  As a blind person, you will want to learn how to make tools that let
you do the same kinds of breakdown, except in a form that works for you.  With that said, I use
different techniques and tools for doing this.

1.  If it's data I don't care a lot about, or I'm only going to look at once or twice, I might
produce a visual graph, or take someone else's visual graph and use a human reader to describe
it for me.  That will give me a trend or an idea of what I'm looking at and I can then decide
if I need to do further analysis, which might mean creating a diferent way of doing it.

2.  If I'm scrambling through a bunch of log data, I'll use various text manipulation tools to
filter that data into various forms that tell me how often a certain message occurs, the
frequency of certain levels of error, or, to sift out a specific instance of a problem from a
sea of data.

3.  In general, I find sighted folks have a lot of ability to do a quick high level analysis of
a problem, but are generally pretty bad at performing root cause analysis and actually finding
solutions to difficult problems.  One technique I have for overcoming the limitations of not
being able to do that high level analysis as quickly is my sighted peers is to develop a good
overall understanding of the particular data domain I'm working on.  In that way, I can do more
with a little data than many folks can do with a lot of data.  This means, for example, that I
can often get to the root of a problem with just a few questions and thus am able to minimize
the amount of actual data I need to sift through.
If you find you just need to pour through buckets and buckets of data, consider using one of
the sonification techniques people have used to look at graphs and statistics.  That will give
you a good approximation to what sighted folks are doing with visual graphs.

4.  Learn how to query your data. this is a variation on 2, above, but is different in the
sense that if you ask certain questions, either by sorting the data, or by asking for different
data, you can get to useful conclusions or solutions without having to look at everything.  

Bottom line, work to have a deep understanding of the subjects you intend to study and work in.
Learn, as you engage in your education, to try and think ahead of the instruction.  That is,
ask a lot of questions as you learn, and admit when you don't understand something and ask
questions until you do understand it.  Sometimes that means talking to different people about a
topic until you get a good overall picture.

	Remember, eyesight is useful, but it is your brain that gives you ability and as long as
you keep that working and learning, you'll do well at what ever degree you pursue.  It won't
always be easy, but it is worth doing.

HOpe that helps.
-Brian