INSTRUCTIONS
• The homework will be peer-graded. In analytics modeling, there are often lots of different approaches that work well, and I want you to see not just your own, but also others.
• The homework grading scale reflects the fact that the primary purpose of homework is learning:
Rating Meaning Point value (out of 100)
4 All correct (perhaps except a few details) with a deeper solution than expected 100
3 Most or all correct 90
2 Not correct, but a reasonable attempt 75
1 Not correct, insufficient effort 50
0 Not submitted 0
Question 18.1
Describe analytics models and data that could be used to make good recommendations to the power company.
Here are some questions to consider:
• The bottom-line question is which shutoffs should be done each month, given the capacity constraints. One consideration is that some of the capacity – the workers’ time – is taken up by travel, so maybe the shutoffs can be scheduled in a way that increases the number of them that can be done.
• Not every shutoff is equal. Some shutoffs shouldn’t be done at all, because if the power is left on, those people are likely to pay the bill eventually. How can you identify which shutoffs should or shouldn’t be done? And among the ones to shut off, how should they be prioritized?
Think about the problem and your approach. Then talk about it with other learners, and share and combine your ideas. And then, put your approaches up on the discussion forum, and give feedback and suggestions to each other.
You can use the {given, use, to} format to guide the discussions: Given {data}, use {model} to {result}.
Have fun! Taking a real problem, and thinking through the modeling and data process to build a good solution framework, is my favorite part of analytics.
