#1 WELCOME!
In the last decade, the amount of data available to organizations has reached unprecedented levels. Data is transforming business, social interactions, and the future of our society. In this course, you will learn how to use data and analytics to give an edge to your career and your life. We will examine real world examples of how analytics have been used to significantly improve a business or industry. These examples include Moneyball, eHarmony, the Framingham Heart Study, Twitter, IBM Watson, and Netflix. Through these examples and many more, we will teach you the following analytics methods: linear regression, logistic regression, trees, text analytics, clustering, visualization, and optimization. We will be using the statistical software R and a spreadsheet software to build models and work with data. The contents of this course are essentially the same as those of the corresponding MIT class (The Analytics Edge). It is a challenging class, but it will enable you to apply analytics to real-world applications.
#2 PREREQUISITES
Basic mathematical knowledge (at a high school level). You should be familiar with concepts like mean, standard deviation, and scatterplots. Mathematical maturity and prior experience with programming will decrease the estimated effort required for this class, but are not necessary to succeed.
#3 COURSE OVERVIEW
The course is organized by units. To keep pace with the class, you are expected to complete all the work by the due dates indicated. For individual due dates, see the course calendar or the left-hand side navigation in the Courseware tab. Weekly coursework includes:
- Interactive Lecture Sequences;
- Recitation;
- Homework Assignment.
- The course will also have a competition and a final exam.