Data Wrangling & Adv Visualtn

Catalog description

Data Wrangling is the process of transforming and/or mapping data from its "raw" initial collected form into another format with the intent of making it more appropriate and valuable for a variety of downstream purposes such as analytics and visualization. In this course, you will learn how to import, clean, structure, and effectively display data. Underlying data, in many business applications, comes from multiple sources and may have missing values and inconsistencies that need to be rectified. Data visualization is an interdisciplinary field that deals with graphically representing that data. It is a particularly efficient way of communicating when the data is numerous in size (rows and/or columns) and in multiple formats (quantitative, qualitative, geographical, etc.). Data cleansing and wrangling will then allow the creation of realistic, insightful, and comprehensible data visualizations, while avoiding misleading techniques. Through discussion, individual research, and hands-on use of cutting-edge tools (Alteryx, Excel, and Tableau), we will develop knowledge and skills that will be immediately applicable in any analytics field. This course will heavily utilize Alteryx and focus on building on the Data Visualization knowledge learned in DSS 585. Hands-on projects will be leveraged throughout the course to allow students to see immediate results of the tools and techniques learned. Note: Alteryx is only available for Windows and uses a substantial memory. All students must have access to a Windows based computer.