Data Analysis and Visualization
Online Short Course
Answer important business-related questions with practical data analysis techniques, and gain the tools to communicate your results to a non-technical audience.
8 weeks, excluding 1 week orientation.
7–10 hours of self-paced learning per week, entirely online.
Email: riceadmissions@getsmarter.com
Call: +1 281 201 5600
About This Course
In the ongoing data revolution, jobs that have existed for years are becoming increasingly complex and require a broad set of data skills. This Data Analysis and Visualization online short course from Rice University’s Glasscock School of Continuing Studies will help you develop the tools and knowledge to effectively analyze and visualize data, and create data-driven solutions within your organization. Under the guidance of an experienced Academic Director from Rice University, you’ll learn the fundamentals of data analysis, advanced Excel functions, and how to extract data from databases and practical statistics. You’ll also gain the skills to navigate technical tools such as Tableau, SQL and VBA, and learn to communicate key findings with stakeholders through data storytelling — a structured approach to communicating data insights with three key elements: data, visuals, and narrative.
“Data are just summaries of thousands of stories — tell a few of those stories to help make the data meaningful.”
Chip and Dan Heath
Authors
What This Course Covers
This online short course will provide you with valuable insight into how data can impact business strategy, and how to leverage that data to make strategic and operational decisions. The course will introduce basic data management techniques such as how to retrieve, clean, and explore data, how to make testable hypotheses and then conduct business experiments based on available data. You’ll be introduced to sophisticated tools that will help you analyze and visualize data. You’ll also reflect on ethical values of regulations and compliance when communicating your results to key stakeholders, allowing you to consider the broader implications of your work. The basics of data analysis and visualization using Excel, programming language SQL, and interactive data visualization software Tableau will all be covered over the eight weeks of the course. A basic proficiency in Excel is recommended; however, no prerequisites or technical knowledge is required.
A Powerful Collaboration
Rice University is working with digital education expert GetSmarter to make its Data Analysis and Visualization course more accessible. Learn from experts in their fields as you study at one of the nation’s leading institutions.
About Rice University
Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice University has highly respected schools of architecture, business, continuing studies, engineering, humanities, music, natural sciences, and social sciences.
About the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies
The Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies has served as a bridge to the greater Houston area and Texas for more than 50 years. As one of the eight schools at Rice University, the Glasscock School consistently challenges learners, embraces a diverse student body, and champions a unique teaching and learning culture that prides itself on superior education. The mission of the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies is to further Rice University’s commitment to educational outreach by providing lifelong personal and professional development opportunities to the greater Houston community and beyond.
The school’s vision is to meet the evolving educational demands of learners across the globe with rigorous and innovative programs that epitomize unconventional wisdom. It prides itself on being the vanguard of new, accessible, personalized, and interactive modes of teaching and learning in higher education, and is proud to further Rice University’s commitment to educational outreach. The Glasscock School remains dedicated to providing valuable and relevant personal and professional development opportunities to lifelong learners. The school’s rich history in access and educational opportunity consists of innumerable accomplishments, a testament to its highly qualified faculty, staff, and community of learners who remain ever curious.
About GetSmarter
GetSmarter, a 2U, Inc. brand, partners with the world's leading universities and institutions to select, design, and deliver premium online short courses with a data-driven focus on learning gain.
Technology meets academic rigor in GetSmarter’s people-mediated model, which enables lifelong learners across the globe to obtain industry-relevant skills that are certified by the world’s most reputable academic institutions.
As a learner, you will also gain unlimited access to 2U’s Career Engagement Network at no extra cost. This platform will provide you with valuable career resources and events to support your professional journey. You can look forward to benefits including rich content, career templates, webinars, workshops, career fairs, networking events, panel discussions, and exclusive recruitment opportunities to connect you with potential employers.*
*Some of these events may be virtual due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
What You’ll Learn
You’ll be welcomed to the course and begin connecting with fellow learners, while exploring the navigation and tools of your Online Campus. Be alerted to key milestones in the learning path, and review how your results will be calculated and distributed.
You’ll be required to complete your learner profile, confirm your certificate delivery address, and submit a digital copy of your passport/identity document.
Explore more advanced functionalities of Excel to create multi-sheet models and understand what visualizations consist of.
- Recall the basic functionality of Excel, and recognize formula syntax and where to find function documentation
- Discuss common data cleaning objectives
- Recognize the limitations of visualization types
- Discuss best practices for visualization selection
- Calculate optimal solutions using the solver tool in Excel
- Create a range of possibilities using data tables in Excel
Learn to use data to answer effective business questions in order to find data-driven solutions.
- Define elements of a testable hypothesis
- Discuss the limitations of a hypothesis
- Identify different sources for data retrieval
- Discuss a proposed experiment
- Articulate conclusions drawn from an experiment
- Critique the limitations of an analysis
Access central datastores to enable more comprehensive analyses.
- Identify the need for databases in analytics
- Execute basic database operations
- Identify the need for normalization and data retrieval using joins
- Design SQL tables
- Discuss processes in a data retrieval strategy
- Design a query to retrieve data from an SQL database and import to a CSV file
Introducing a practical approach to statistics for data analysts.
- Use common descriptive statistics to describe numerical data
- Calculate measures of centrality and variability to summarize a data set and describe its spread
- Calculate the probability of an event, given information about a sample
- Analyze the results of a statistical test and identify the level of confidence in the results
- Identify common statistical misconceptions and pitfalls of interpretation
- Discuss issues around statistical analysis
Conduct a regression analysis and describe the likelihood of possible outcomes.
- Calculate linear and logistic regression models given a numerical data set
- Identify the appropriate regression model to use based on the distribution of data
- Calculate confidence intervals of future values
- Interpret forecasts based on a predictive model
- Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of different models
- Identify common limitations and pitfalls of forecasts
Communicate your results to key stakeholders and consider the broader implications of your work.
- Describe important considerations when communicating analyses to a nontechnical audience
- Identify common mistakes when plotting data
- Review common ethical issues in data analysis
- Discuss the considerations of an ethically ambiguous situation
- Discuss modern regulations around data and analysis
- Evaluate the guidelines for communication, ethics, and regulations within your organization
Use Tableau as a medium to communicate a cohesive data story.
- Practice using Tableau to create effective visualizations
- Discuss the effectiveness of visualizations
- Identify appropriate chart selection based on underlying data
- Discuss details that make charts more effective
- Analyze best practices of an effective data story
- Create a data story
Become more effective by using automation.
- Identify reasons and methods to automate data analysis tasks
- Discuss when to implement automated processes
- Recognize how to create a macro in Excel
- Use VBA to create a custom macro in Excel
Who Should Take This Course
This course is essential for functional analysts who utilize data and analytical models to inform specific functions and business decisions. It is also useful to those in a managerial role who want to leverage data to inform strategic and operational decisions, and who want to upskill themselves with relevant tools to do so. The course is of benefit to professionals looking to move into an analytical role, and wanting to familiarize themselves with data analysis and visualization.
This Course Is for You if You Want To:
Improve Your Projects
Discover the fundamentals of data analysis to make better informed business decisions.
Apply New Skills
Learn to effectively visualize data using Tableau, a highly regarded visualization tool.
Share Insights
Gain the skills necessary to communicate data insights using storytelling.
Advance Your Career
Harness sophisticated tools such as Tableau, SQL and VBA to manage data in any context.
About The Certificate
Earn a certificate of professional achievement from Rice University as recognition of your newly developed skills.
Assessment is continuous and based on a series of practical assignments completed online. In order to be issued with a certificate, you’ll need to meet the requirements outlined in the course handbook. The handbook will be made available to you as soon as you begin the course.
Your certificate will be issued in your legal name and sent to you upon successful completion of the course, as per the stipulated requirements.
Who You’ll Learn From
This subject matter expert from Rice University guides the course design and appears in a number of course videos, along with a variety of industry professionals.
Your Academic Director
Camden Kirkland
Lead Instructor, Trilogy Education Services and Rice University’s Glasscock School of Continuing Studies
Kirkland received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Houston and has gone on to become a lead instructor at both Trilogy Education Services and Rice University’s Glasscock School of Continuing Studies. He has experience as a specialist in web development and data analytics, and has a background in electrochemistry. Kirkland previously worked as a chemist at Doble Engineering before becoming an instructor. He currently teaches data analytics and financial technologies at Rice University’s Glasscock School of Continuing Studies.
How You’ll Learn
Every course is broken down into manageable, weekly modules, designed to accelerate your learning process through diverse learning activities:
- Work through your downloadable and online instructional material
- Interact with your peers and learning facilitators through weekly class-wide forums and reviewed small group discussions
- Enjoy a wide range of interactive content, including video lectures, infographics, live polls, and more
- Investigate rich, real-world case studies
- Apply what you learn each week to quizzes and ongoing project submissions, culminating in the ability to pose important business questions, and to use data storytelling to effectively communicate data insights to stakeholders
Your Success Team
GetSmarter, with whom Rice University is collaborating to deliver this online course, provides a personalized approach to online education that ensures you’re supported throughout your learning journey.
Head Learning Facilitator
A subject expert who’ll guide you through content-related challenges.
Success Adviser
Your one-on-one support available during university hours (8a.m.–5p.m. CDT) to resolve technical and administrative challenges.
Global Success Team
Available 24/7 to solve your tech-related and administrative queries and concerns.
Technical Requirements
Basic Requirements
In order to complete this course, you’ll need a current email account and access to a computer and the internet, as well as a PDF Reader. You may need to view Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, and read and create documents in Microsoft Word or Excel.
Browser Requirements
We recommend that you use Google Chrome as your internet browser when accessing the Online Campus. Although this is not a requirement, we have found that this browser performs best for ease of access to course material. This browser can be downloaded here.
Additional Requirements
Certain courses may require additional software and resources. These additional software and resource requirements will be communicated to you upon registration and/or at the beginning of the course. Please note that Google, Vimeo, and YouTube may be used in our course delivery, and if these services are blocked in your jurisdiction, you may have difficulty in accessing course content. Please check with an Enrollment Adviser before registering for this course if you have any concerns about this affecting your experience with the Online Campus.
