Peer to Peer Magazine

Spring 2016

The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association

Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/657874

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60 PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE OF ILTA | SPRING 2016 » Descriptive: Questions that focus on understanding the data within your data set EXAMPLES: • What is the average time worked on these maers? • Who is our largest client? » Exploratory: Questions that search for relationships within the data set to be investigated further EXAMPLES: • Which types of maers have a higher number of hours worked? • What do our most profitable clients have in common? » Inferential: Questions that aempt to describe an entire population based on the samples within your data set EXAMPLES: • Based on this sample, what is the average time worked for all maers of this type? It is fairly common to spend thousands of dollars on soware licenses or consulting, but for the brave, advanced analytic tools can offer a fresh viewpoint to empower decision-making. Statistical soware packages, such as R, offer inexpensive access to powerful data analysis tools like advanced ploing, machine learning, regression and predictive analysis. Asking the Right Questions R is a programming language based on S, which has been around since the 1970s. Learning the language of R, a user can make a smooth transition to programmer by working with and automating R processes. Once comfortable with this, it becomes easy to write scripts for consistent, automated data processing. Where do you start? Problem-solving with this tool begins with a refined, useful question. Roger Peng, a biostatistics professor and author of the book "The Art of Data Science," says that knowing what type of question you are asking is critical to interpreting the analysis. Peng and his co-author Jeff Leek describe six types of questions that can help you determine which tool within R will be most effective. Nowadays it is cheaper than ever to collect and store data. Many law firms already have access to data that could provide valuable strategic information, but they do not know how to make use of it. The Analytic Power of R for Decision-Making by Geofry Lawton GEOFRY LAWTON Geofry Lawton is a freelance data expert with experience driving innovation in legal technology. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, he most recently introduced analytics using R at a top-20 global law firm. Contact Geofry at geofry.m.lawton@gmail.com.

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