Data Literacy Specialization

This course introduces students to data and statistics. By the end of the course, students should be able to interpret descriptive statistics, causal analyses and visualizations to draw meaningful insights.

The course first introduces a framework for thinking about the various purposes of statistical analysis. We’ll talk about how analysts use data for descriptive, causal and predictive inference. We’ll then cover how to develop a research study for causal analysis, compute and interpret descriptive statistics and design effective visualizations. The course will help you to become a thoughtful and critical consumer of analytics. If you are in a field that increasingly relies on data-driven decision making, but you feel unequipped to interpret and evaluate data, this course will help you develop these fundamental tools of data literacy.

This course provides a framework for how analysts can create and evaluate quantitative measures. Consider the many tricky concepts that are often of interest to analysts, such as health, educational attainment and trust in government. This course will explore various approaches for quantifying these concepts. The course begins with an overview of the different levels of measurement and ways to transform variables. We’ll then discuss how to construct and build a measurement model. We’ll next examine surveys, as they are one of the most frequently used measurement tools. As part of this discussion, we’ll cover survey sampling, design and evaluation. Lastly, we’ll consider different ways to judge the quality of a measure, such as by its level of reliability or validity. By the end of this course, you should be able to develop and critically assess measures for concepts worth study. After all, a good analysis is built on good measures.

This course will introduce you to the linear regression model, which is a powerful tool that researchers can use to measure the relationship between multiple variables. We’ll begin by exploring the components of a bivariate regression model, which estimates the relationship between an independent and dependent variable. Building on this foundation, we’ll then discuss how to create and interpret a multivariate model, binary dependent variable model and interactive model. We’ll also consider how different types of variables, such as categorical and dummy variables, can be appropriately incorporated into a model. Overall, we’ll discuss some of the many different ways a regression model can be used for both descriptive and causal inference, as well as the limitations of this analytical tool. By the end of the course, you should be able to interpret and critically evaluate a multivariate regression analysis.

This course focuses on how analysts can measure and describe the confidence they have in their findings. The course begins with an overview of the key probability rules and concepts that govern the calculation of uncertainty measures. We’ll then apply these ideas to variables (which are the building blocks of statistics) and their associated probability distributions. The second half of the course will delve into the computation and interpretation of uncertainty. We’ll discuss how to conduct a hypothesis test using both test statistics and confidence intervals. Finally, we’ll consider the role of hypothesis testing in a regression context, including what we can and cannot learn from the statistical significance of a coefficient. By the end of the course, you should be able to discuss statistical findings in probabilistic terms and interpret the uncertainty of a particular estimate.