Capstone: Advanced Quantitative Research Projects in Data and Policy I

Catalog description

Couples with CAP-GP 3149 . The goal of this course is for students to complete a data project that addresses a real-world challenge faced by a public service organization in a field of their choosing - ranging from policy questions to finance or management decisions - and, in the process, create a deliverable for prospective employers that not only hones and extends their data skills but also provides awareness of the rich practical context in which data-informed policy decisions operate. Starting with a question, students will think through the respective needs of their stakeholders and audience, survey available data, select and synthesize data sets, decide where to focus their analysis, and present their findings in a memo, a tight one-pager, and a leadership-targeted synthesized slide deck. Over the course of the year, students will learn to contextualize policy questions within their political, legal, and social context, and translate their analysis into compelling communication. In support of the above, the course's content will give students exposure to the various sources for data gathering (APIs, SFTPs), and help them learn how to access those sources using available programming languages and tools. In addition, the course's content will cover techniques to clean data and will illustrate the application of quantitative methods that students have learned in other courses. The course will also discuss practical considerations when working with data (such as privacy and ethics best practices), as well as provide an overview of the most recent and important regulations that govern the use of data across public, nonprofit, and private sectors. Finally, the course will cover how to write up and present findings in an effective, audience conscious manner.