6.4 Real-World Examples: Challenges and Pitfalls in Handling Missing Data
After learning the essentials about missing data and the various techniques to handle them, you may be eager to put them into practice. However, the real world isn't as tidy as a textbook, and you'll often encounter challenges that make handling missing data tricky. In this section, we'll look at some real-world examples and the caveats you might face.
For instance, imagine you are a data analyst for a large e-commerce website. One day, you discover that there is a significant amount of missing data in the customer information records. You suspect that the missing data might be due to a technical error or a system glitch. However, before you jump in to fix the problem, you need to determine the root cause of the issue.
Another example is when you are working with survey data. You might find that some respondents leave certain questions unanswered, leading to missing data. In this case, you might...