

The data is not enough: Creative data scientists make the difference - pyduan
http://venturebeat.com/2013/12/06/the-data-is-not-enough-creative-data-scientists-make-the-difference/

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bradddd
tl;dr ask the right questions

That being said, this is hardly limited to data scientists.

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pyduan
True, but intuition and general analytical ability is often overlooked when
hiring data scientists -- because the term is so broad, what people are often
looking for is a mixture of statistical know-how and programming ability, but
often forget to ask for a good understanding of econometric principles.

For instance, there is a difference between understanding generalization error
in the statistical/machine learning sense, and generalization error in the
sense of _external validity_. You'd be surprised at how many models, even at
reputed companies, use features that do not make sense or are based on
implicit assumptions about the studied population. Obviously insight is always
a good quality to have, but it is particularly critical for data scientists as
the right or the wrong insight in the context of machine learning algorithms
can have huge consequences on your company.

