Have a look a the data section for dimension reduction. It contains a zip archive which has three files:
- Short example-like R tutorial
- How to carry out and inspect results of PCA in R on an example of decathlon results
- How to carry out and inspect results of MDS in R on an example of a dataset of what types of people people don't want to have as their neighbors.
To earn the credits carry out PCA and MDS in a programming language of your choice (if you are more proficient with, e.g. Python, use Python) on a dataset(s) of your choice. Preferably, on data you are interested in, i.e. collect the data, carry out dimension reduction and interpret the result in a similar way you see in the R examples. I.e. for PCA explain what information the first and second PC carry (which dimension are loaded there and why) and in MDS, if possible, interpret the axis. Send the results and code as a PDF document, or, preferably share the results as a Notebook, R Markdown or similar integrated solution.