FEATURE11 September 2019

The new insight power couple

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Behavioural science Data analytics Features Impact

Crawford Hollingworth examines how the pairing of behavioural and data science can create more targeted and effective behavioural interventions.

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As the old saying goes, ‘two heads are better than one’, and the new insight power couple – data science and behavioural science – illustrates this perfectly. The relationship may be in its infancy, but we are already seeing clear evidence of the mutual benefits of this pairing.

Behavioural science can add value to data science in two simple ways – by helping to define the underlying questions and hypotheses that guide data collection, and by offering a behavioural lens through which data can be explored.

Data science can amplify behavioural science understandings by analysing human behaviour on a larger scale: exploring millions of variations, looking for trends or patterns that may have been obscured by large amounts of data. This can also lead to greater personalisation of behavioural science interventions, targeted at an individual level.

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