Working with Python classes and instances

Python uses class for object-oriented programming. A class represents the general behavior or information that the programmer or data analyst focuses on. When a class is created, particular objects belonging to this class can be created. This process is called instantiation. Class contains attributes, methods, or functions for general purpose. Attributes for instances can be modified by directly assigning new values, or by using methods defined in a class.

Working with normal distributions in Python

Normal distribution is describing random variables with bell-shaped probability density functions. Normal distribution is widely used in data science because large sample random variates have a mean value which follows approximate normal distribution if variates are independently drawn from any distributions. The probability density function for normal distribution is determined by two parameters: mean(miu) and standard deviation(sigma).

Calculate point-biserial and biserial correlations using R

When a correlation, usually Person type correlation, is calculated, two variables have to be continuous. But this requirement does not excludes the situation when one of the two variables is a dichotomous (binary) distributed. Say if we want to measure the correlations between height and gender for a group of people, the variable gender has clear dichotomous values. This kind of Pearson correlation is called point-biserial correlation, because the value for gender variable is strictly 0 or 1.

Creating and indexing lists in Python

List is the simplest type of data structure in Python programming. A list is used to store a collection of elements of same type (numeric, string, etc.). In Python, a pair of brackets [] indicates the data object is a list type. For example, the following two statements create two lists, in which one is numeric and the other is of string type.