Z-Scores and Standard Deviation in Python
A brief walkthrough in finding z-scores and standard deviation in python.
Standard deviation and z-scores are values used to help examine and interpret data. Examining data in this way can give us a frame of reference within our data set to better understand the values as a whole. This knowledge can also help us determine answers to ordinal questions, such as the one purposed below.
Python has many tools to determine the standard deviation and z-scores. To gain an understanding of how these values are determined, this walkthrough will build the functions from scratch in python. This will give us a better understanding of how these values are determined, why they are important, and how the functions work under the hood.
The Question
We will use standard deviation and z-scores to answer the question, “ Is 500 seconds a long time to see a UFO?”
Our Data
The data set is from a Kaggle.com survey about UFO sightings. We want to understand if 500 seconds is a long time to see a UFO based on the other values. Below shows the first 10 rows of the data set. Please note, the comment section has been truncated to better fit within the body of this post, to see the full data set visit the link listed above.
