Exploring the Predictive Power of Consumer Data Seidenberg Professor Constance Knapp, PhD, teams up with a Seidenberg and Lubin student to take a closer look at predictive analytics and data mining. HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED
how your favorite online retailers manage to suggest products tailored to your individual tastes? Information systems and quantitative business analysis double major Hannah Cherian ’14 is studying just that, a technique called predictive analytics, through the Pace Undergraduate StudentFaculty Research Program. In her project, titled “How Do They Know What I Want to Buy?: Customer Analytics and Data Mining,” Cherian, with the help of her faculty partner, Seidenberg Professor Constance Knapp, PhD, is exploring the growing sophistication of predictive analytics. Since Cherian has been offered a full-time job at Fannie Mae after graduation, the two have focused their research on the financial world. As a Seidenberg and Lubin student, Cherian says predictive analytics fit with both her majors and was an area of interest to her. When Knapp approached her with the possibility of pairing up for the Undergraduate Student-Faculty Research Program, Cherian was eager to get started.
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Constance Knapp, PhD
However, during an initial literature review, they were surprised to see just how vast the topic was. “I had no idea how widely used predictive analytics were and how many different areas there are,” says Knapp. “For me, predictive analytics were always the Amazon thing—you know, ‘People who bought this book also bought that book,’ but it’s much broader than that.” In fact, Knapp says that predictive analytics are even used in universities to help determine which college courses should be offered in the future. That’s when Knapp suggested they focus on an area that would directly benefit Cherian as she begins her career at Fannie Mae. “I really appreciate that she did that because I would have never thought to do that, and it makes so much sense now that I’m looking at it and taking a step back,” says Cherian. This spring, after graduation, she will enter a two-year rotational program at Fannie Mae, where she has requested to work on
data analysis in addition to her other areas of interest. “It excites me that I’m doing something now that’s going to help me, very specifically, for my job at Fannie Mae,” she says. Cherian and Knapp both express gratitude for being included in the selective research program. About 150 students applied for this year’s program, with only 30 available spots. For Cherian, it has been an opportunity to see a real-world application of her studies. “It’s really taking what I’m learning in the textbook and what I’m doing on the job and tying it all together. It’s an integration of the two. I’ve always studied business and IT separately, so to see how they tie together is something that’s huge for me now,” says Cherian. For Knapp, the program has provided a chance to explore a body of research she can now incorporate into her classroom teaching. “For the first time in a very, very long time, I got to sit at a table with folks from all over the University who are working in areas that I might never have known about,” she says. “I love this idea of a research community, and I think it’s really fascinating.”
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