developerWorks: Take Web Data Analysis to the Next Level with PHP

“Maybe developers shouldn’t be expected to deal with the
statistical analysis of data streams except in superficial ways.
After all, there are those who devote careers to the more complex
data-stream analysis; they’re called statisticians and trained
analysts. They can be brought in when an organization needs more
than just descriptive statistics.

“However, an alternative response is to acknowledge that
increasing savvy with inferential statistics is becoming part of
the job description for Web developers. Dynamic sites are
generating more and more data and it is arguably the responsibility
of Web developers and system administrators to find ways of turning
this data into actionable knowledge.

“I advocate the latter response; this article is intended to
help Web developers and systems administrators learn (or activate,
in the case of inert knowledge) the design and analysis skills
necessary to apply inferential statistics to their Web data
streams…”

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