def METHOD_NAME(self, data):
    """
    :param data: # @TODO: receive a consistent data type here; currently either list of lists or pd.Series w/lists
    :return: encoded data
    """
    if not self.is_prepared:
        raise Exception('You need to call "prepare" before calling "encode" or "decode".')
    if isinstance(data, pd.Series):
        data = data.values
    if not isinstance(data[0], Iterable):
        data = [data]
    ret = [self.encode_one(row) for row in data]
    return torch.Tensor(ret)