FALL 2022 WRAP-UP
Another year, another semester. It is crazy for me to think about how long I've been with this program and how much I have expanded my skill set. Do I always master everything I work on, no, but I think that's kind of the best part. Ideally, I would like to be able to do everything we do in this program with ease, but the diverse spread of disciplines we practice lets me understand where I can best utilize my own individual skills.
Speaking of which, this semester we took a deep look into database construction as well as data analysis. I think for a lot of students this was a primer of what the reality of research would be. I know from personal experience, the database tools we worked with here are the same ones we used when I was still at Phoenix College with this program, so it was interesting to now be in a position where I could develop the skills my mentors would utilize. It was definitely trick to get at first, not cause of the content necessarily, but a lot of it was unlearning certain habits I made from doing my own guerilla research years ago.
With that in mind, here are some of the takeaways I had on this semester's database project!
Describe your understanding of relational databases versus spreadsheets.
So, both are tools that we use to consolidate and organize data, but there are differences in how they give users access to data. Spreadsheets are powerful in how they are able to continuously expand their length and allowing for design freedom after an initial set of data's inceptions. Databases consolidate data in fixed positions, meaning that data in a table is not so easily modified in scale (rows and columns). While at times limiting with the actions that can be done with it after, databases offer a firm structure in its data and how it expresses relations between other tables. There is also a matter of how this data is hosted and collaborated on, as spreadsheets can be utilized through Google and Microsoft suite, while databases must be deployed to a local or online network where other administrators can interface with it. This can take the form of personal Apache web servers or large repositories such as GitHub.
Provide an overview of the database class project
The database class project was aimed at giving students an immersive experience in data entry, interpretation, and aggregation by utilizing SQL tools. The project starts students off in pairs, in which they must find a set of data for which they are to make a database for. The construction of this database is done over SQLite DB Browser, which is one part SQL compiler and one part .db manager. Over the semester, we would work on the project more and more by utilizing research standard practices and reporting our experiences and work to our instructor. This culminates in a final semester presentation in which students describe their experience creating the database, and how it was for them utilizing SQLite and writing their own queries.
What did you learn about databases through the application of the concepts on the project?
I think what I found so interesting was a little bit more on the "what databases needed to do" side. I had been familiar with SQL before, as at my prior college I worked on a project where we hosted an Apache web server that utilized PHP my admin with SQL administration tools baked in. At the time, I was somewhat aware that databases and their respective tables need to be massive in scale, not only in the number of entries but also in how many columns they needed. At the time, I thought this was just a quirk of the project I was on but going through this project I learned that this was standard practice for researchers to have 30+ attribute tables. That really helped put into perspective the importance of databases for not only organizing large amounts of data like this but also interpreting it. The last thing I'll add is that I had to unlearn certain syntax standards between SQL and SQLite; that sounds maybe inconsequential, but I remember spending a lot of nights wondering why my years of YouTube tutorial SQL knowledge was not working like it normally does.
Has learning about databases influenced your future plans?
Kind of not really, and I don't mean that in a bad way. I was already trying to go into something data adjacent, and I think really this project just allowed me to widen my scope of reference. While I did have some familiarity with databases, I was ultimately unfamiliar with what the course used for their compilers, administrative tools, and language. That feeling of "I know this" to "I don't know this", as I understand it, is reflective of really being hired by company that works with data. Companies can have in-house, or partner backed software that is not widely used, or they could use common web apps; it ultimately means it is important to understand the principles first and foremost. Regardless of syntax or what version of an application I have, there will always be universal concepts like Primary and Foreign Keys that if I solidify my understanding of could do wonders the next time I have to learn a language or app again.
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