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When studying any kind of population — people or cells — averaging is a useful, if flawed, form of measurement. According to the US Census Bureau, the average American household size in 2010 was 2.59. Of course, there are no homes with exactly 2.59 people. By inspecting each house individually, one would see some homes occupied by a single individual, and others by large families. These extremes get lost when values are averaged over a population.

Listening to data isn’t easy. Massive amounts of data are often messy and complicated. But somewhere within the cacophony, information can harmonize and produce the sweet sound of discovery – if you have the right tools with which to hear it.