np.rand and Other Ways to Make Data

Data is essential for making objective decisions. However, not all data is created equal. Sometimes, the data that you need does not exist, or it is not available in a format that you can use. In these cases, you may need to create your own data.

ORB, Operations Research Bit
Operations Research
6 min readAug 20, 2023

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Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

Data is often the key to solving a problem. However, not all data is created equal:

  • Some data you need does not exist.
  • Some data that exists is not accurate or reliable.
  • Some data is not available in a format that you can use.
  • You may need to create a custom dataset for a specific purpose.

Overview for Making Data

Availability of data. If the data that you need does not exist, or it is not available in a format that you can use, then you will need to create your own data. There are a few things to consider when deciding whether to make your own data or use existing data.

  • Cost of data: If the cost of acquiring or licensing existing data is prohibitive, then you may want to create your own data.
  • Timeliness of data: If you need data that is up-to-date, then you may need to create your own data.
  • Accuracy of data: If you need data that is accurate, then you may need to create your own data.

Make sure that your experiment is valid and that the results are reliable.

  • Be clear about your goals. What do you want to learn from the data?
  • Collect enough data. The more data you have, the more accurate your results will be.
  • Once you have collected your data, you need to clean and prepare it for analysis. This may involve removing outliers, imputing missing values, and transforming the data into a compatible format and prepare it for analysis.
  • Use the appropriate statistical techniques to draw valid conclusions from the data.

Making Data and Experimenting

Once you have created your own data, you can use it to experiment with different solutions to your problem. This will help you to identify the best solution and make informed decisions. Here are some specific examples of how to make your own data and experiment:

  • A logistics company might create its own data by tracking the delivery times of its packages. This data could be used to identify the most efficient routes for deliveries or to improve the company’s scheduling system.
  • A hospital might create its own data by tracking the wait times for patients in its emergency room. This data could be used to identify ways to reduce wait times or to improve the quality of care.
  • A financial firm might create its own data by simulating the stock market. This data could be used to test new trading strategies or to develop new risk models.

Create data using a variety of methods, such as experiments, sampling, simulation, and curve fitting.

Surveys and Experiments

You can survey people or businesses to collect data about their opinions, behaviors, or characteristics. Another common approach is to conduct experiments. An experiment is a controlled study that is designed to test a hypothesis. Experiments allow you to control the variables in a situation and observe the effects of those variables.

For example, you might want to conduct an experiment to test the effectiveness of a new marketing campaign. To do this, you would need to randomly assign customers to two groups: a treatment group and a control group. The treatment group would receive the new marketing campaign, while the control group would not. You would then measure the response of each group to the campaign.

This can be a very effective way to gather data, but it can also be time-consuming and expensive.

Sampling

One way to create our own data is to sample from an existing dataset. This means randomly selecting a subset of the data. The sampled data can then be used to solve the problem at hand.

For example, let’s say we have a dataset of customer orders. We want to use this data to predict the demand for a new product. We could sample a subset of the orders and use this data to train a forecasting model.

Simulation

Another approach to creating your own data is to simulate a real-world situation. This means creating a mathematical model of the process and then using this model to generate data.

For example, you might want to simulate the traffic flow on a city street. To do this, you would need to create a computer model that represents the streets, intersections, and vehicles in the city to generate data. You would then run the model to see how traffic flows under different conditions.

Simulations allow you to experiment with different scenarios and see how they play out. This can be a more efficient way to gather data than conducting experiments, but it is important to make sure that the simulation is realistic.

Curve fitting

Curve fitting is a method of finding a mathematical function that best fits a set of data points. This can be done by minimizing the error between the function and the data points.

For example, let’s say we have a set of data points that represent the demand for a product over time. We could use curve fitting to find a function that best represents the demand. This function could then be used to forecast future demand.

Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash

Experimenting with Solutions

It can be helpful to identify the best solution for your specific situation. When experimenting, it is important to be systematic and to record your results carefully. This will help you to identify the factors that are most important and to make informed decisions about your problem.

np.rand

The numpy.random module in Python provides a number of functions for generating random numbers. One of these functions is rand, which generates a sequence of random numbers between 0 and 1.

Example of how to use np.rand to create a sequence of 100 random numbers:

import numpy as np

# Generate 100 random numbers between 0 and 1
data = np.random.rand(100)

# Print the first 10 random numbers
print(data[:10])

output:

[0.11729669 0.22455702 0.23193817 0.21360395 0.98167252 0.1687385
0.93237132 0.45095275 0.11162616 0.35105323]

The numbers in the output represent a sequence of 100 random numbers between 0 and 1.

Experimenting with np.rand

You can experiment with np.rand to generate different types of random numbers. For example, you can use the following code to generate a sequence of 100 random numbers that are uniformly distributed between 1 and 10:

import numpy as np

# Generate 100 random numbers between 1 and 10
data = np.random.rand(100) * 10 + 1

# Print the first 10 random numbers
print(data[:10])

This code will print the following output:

[3.36443781 3.4709863  7.48024364 6.25948704 9.28025745 9.67946608
7.52041439 8.33601965 7.09890499 4.02305725]

The numbers in the output represent a sequence of 100 random numbers that are uniformly distributed between 1 and 10.

You can also use np.rand to generate random numbers that follow a specific distribution. For example, the following code generates a sequence of 100 random numbers that follow a normal distribution with mean 0 and standard deviation 1:

import numpy as np

# Generate 100 random numbers from a normal distribution
data = np.random.randn(100)

# Print

By taking the time to create your own data, you can gain a deeper understanding about and better solve your problems.

Photo by Isaac Smith on Unsplash

Techniques for Analysis

The possibilities for creating your own data and experimenting are endless. By following these tips, you can create accurate, reliable, and relevant data.

  • Descriptive statistics: Descriptive statistics are used to summarize the data. This can involve calculating measures such as the mean, median, and standard deviation.
  • Inferential statistics: Inferential statistics are used to make inferences about the population from the sample data. This can involve hypothesis testing and confidence intervals.
  • Machine learning: Machine learning is a field of computer science that uses algorithms to learn from data. This can be used to develop models that can predict future behavior or make decisions.

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ORB, Operations Research Bit
Operations Research

Business problems, solved. Even the edge cases. Editor of ORB, ORG and Sustainable Cities. Authors, expand your reach: https://bit.ly/write-for-orb