Samuel Leinhardt, Stanley S. Wasserman, Exploratory Data Analysis: An Introduction to Selected Methods, Sociological Methodology, Vol. 10 (1979), pp. 311-365 ...

Data rarely comes in usable form. Data wrangling and exploratory data analysis are the difference between a good data science model and garbage in, garbage out.

Exploratory data analysis is an attitude, a flexibility, and a reliance on display, NOT a bundle of techniques, and should be so taught. Confirmatory data analysis, by contrast, is easier to teach and ...