APPLIED DATA VISUALISATION AND ANALYSIS FOR BUSINESS
ONLINE CERTIFICATE COURSE
Unlock the power of data, delve deep into the world of data visualisation and modelling, and elevate your career.
6 weeks, excluding 1 week orientation.
4–7 hours of self-paced learning per week, entirely online.
Email: lseonline@getsmarter.com
Call: +44 2038 568 850
ABOUT THIS COURSE
In today’s data-driven world, there’s a significant gap between the growing reliance on data and professionals’ ability to leverage it effectively. Knowing how to use data to guide decision-making and convey business insights in a compelling way can both expand your influence and set you apart.
Discover how to harness the enormous potential of data with the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Applied Data Visualisation and Analysis for Business online certificate course. During the first part of the six-week course, you’ll learn how to create robust, engaging data visualisations and dashboards using Tableau. You’ll learn how to use these to explore and present your data in a clear, concise manner to a business audience. The second part of the course will equip you with an arsenal of econometric and statistical modelling techniques in Microsoft Excel. You’ll walk away with a profound understanding of the technical considerations and decisions that underpin effective data visualisations as well as the knowledge and skills to excel in a data-driven world.
This Applied Data Visualisation and Analysis for Business online certificate course is certified by the United Kingdom CPD Certification Service and may be applicable to individuals who are members of, or are associated with UK-based professional bodies. The course has an estimated 54 hours of learning.
Note: should you wish to claim CPD activity, the onus is on you. The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and GetSmarter accept no responsibility, and cannot be held responsible, for the claiming or validation of hours or points.
WHAT THIS COURSE COVERS
In the first part of the six-week course, you’ll dive deep into data visualisation and learn how to use Tableau to tell compelling, data-backed stories to captivate business audiences. You’ll explore data management, chart creation, and dashboard design.
During the second part, you’ll discover various econometric and statistical modelling techniques in Microsoft Excel. Tools like multiple linear regression, forecasting, constrained optimisation, and Monte Carlo simulations will empower you to unveil insights, navigate constraints, and simulate risk and reward within a business context.
Beyond mastering the art of data storytelling and decision-making, you’ll gain a good understanding of the technical nuances that underpin effective data visualisation. Ultimately, you’ll be able to critically evaluate your outputs and those crafted by others to differentiate between noise and valuable insights.
A POWERFUL COLLABORATION
The London School of Economics and Political Science is collaborating with online education provider GetSmarter to create a new class of learning experience – one that is high-touch, intimate, and personalised for the working professional.
ABOUT LSE
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a leading dedicated social science university. LSE was founded in 1895 with the aim of understanding the causes of things for the “betterment of society”. LSE seeks to make research and teaching practical and relevant to the real world. The School counts 18 Nobel Prize winners and 37 world leaders amongst its alumni and staff. LSE has students from over 160 countries, and over 100 languages are spoken on campus.
ABOUT LSE ONLINE CERTIFICATES
LSE is dedicated to addressing global issues through research and education, and is the most international of all British universities. By offering online certificate courses designed by expert LSE faculty members, the School aims to make its state-of-the-art social sciences research and insights available to a wider global audience. The supported, interactive online learning model allows participants to study from anywhere in the world, at times of their convenience, while still interacting with peers and teaching staff alike.
ABOUT GETSMARTER
GetSmarter, part of edX, 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 rigour 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 participant, you will also gain unlimited access to edX’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.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
You’ll be welcomed to the course and begin connecting with fellow participants, 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 participant profile, confirm your email address for the delivery of your digital certificate, and submit a digital copy of your passport/identity document.
Please note that module titles and their contents are subject to change during course development.
Learn how to prepare your data in Tableau for creating effective visualisations.
- Identify the key aspects of effective visualisations
- Practice creating live connections and extracts in Tableau
- Determine how and when to use a join, union, and relationship in Tableau
- Modify the properties of data fields in Tableau
- Examine how technical data preparation decisions in Tableau impact visualisations
Explore how to create visualisations in Tableau to depict relationships in data and identify avenues for further analysis.
- Determine which chart type is appropriate for representing your data given its field attributes
- Practice chart creation in Tableau
- Implement data organisation and filter techniques to refine visualisations in Tableau
- Apply analytics tools to worksheets in Tableau to interrogate a dataset
- Create data visualisations to drive further lines of inquiry into a business problem or question
Learn how to fine-tune dashboards in Tableau and use these as a tool to communicate data-based insights to guide decision-making.
- Review the key features of dimensions, measures, fields, and aggregations in Tableau
- Review principles for designing impactful visualisations
- Examine the presentation format options in Tableau to refine a visualisation
- Modify dashboards into story points and narrative in Tableau
- Create a presentation that conveys data-driven insights to a business audience
Delve into data management and preliminary data analysis in Excel.
- Understand the importance of data validation and cleaning
- Practice data validation and cleaning in Excel
- Practice pivot table creation in Excel
- Analyse relationships and patterns in data using pivot tables
- Use Excel add-in functionality to perform core statistical analyses on data
- Analyse the results of exploratory statistical tests
Explore econometric modelling, including the analytical issues and concepts that impact the accuracy and interpretation of multiple linear regression models.
- Apply multiple linear regression models to data
- Investigate the effect of variable misspecification on multiple linear regression models
- Evaluate interactions, multicollinearity, and dummy variables and their role in multiple linear regression models
Learn about various modelling techniques that can be used to inform decision-making in a business context.
- Analyse time series and forecast data for predictive insight whilst acknowledging uncertainty in the model
- Assess how to optimise a model subject to constraints
- Assess risk and reward using Monte Carlo simulation models
WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS COURSE
This course is ideal for business professionals who would like to enhance their technical data visualisation and analytical skills, make better data-driven decisions, and effectively convey insights through data storytelling. It’s also suitable for individuals who aim to improve their proficiency in data visualisation with Tableau and data modelling with Excel.
Those interested in the course should ideally be familiar with Tableau basics (the interface, connecting to datasets, and creating basic visualisations) and introductory statistical concepts.
Don’t have these skills yet? The LSE Data Analysis for Management online certificate course can provide you with a useful foundation.
THIS COURSE IS FOR YOU IF YOU WANT TO:
STAY RELEVANT
Match your skill set to an ever-shifting, data-driven business world.
IMPROVE YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Learn tools and techniques to use data visualisation effectively.
MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS
Evaluate and use data for better business decision-making.
ABOUT THE CERTIFICATE
Get recognised for your knowledge when you earn a certificate of competence from the London School of Economics and Political Science – a world-leading social science university – and use it to validate your new-found data-driven decision-making and storytelling skills.
Assessment is continuous and based on a series of practical assignments completed online. To be issued with a digital 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 digital 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 LSE guides the course design and appears in a number of course videos, along with a variety of industry professionals.
YOUR COURSE CONVENOR
Dr James Abdey
Associate Professor (Education), Department of Statistics, LSE
James is an associate professor (education) in statistics having gained his PhD in 2010 from LSE, asking "To p, or not to p?"! He teaches the department's large service-level undergraduate courses in mathematical statistics and quantitative methods, as well as elective courses in market research. His research interests include market research techniques and forensic statistics – the interplay of statistics and the law. James has been closely involved with LSE's Summer School and the University of London International Programmes for a number of years. Outside of academia, he has also worked on various quantitative-based consultancy projects in areas including the art market and the World Gold Council. He is also author of Business Analytics: Applied Modelling and Prediction, published by SAGE.
GUEST EXPERT
Andy Cotgreave
Senior Data Evangelist at Tableau
HOW YOU’LL LEARN
Every course is broken down into manageable, weekly modules designed to accelerate your learning process through diverse 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, and more
- Investigate real-world problems and data sets
- Apply what you learn each week to quizzes and ongoing project submissions, culminating in the ability to extract valuable insights from data and make an impact in a fast-changing business world
YOUR SUCCESS TEAM
GetSmarter, with whom LSE is collaborating to deliver this online course, provides a personalised approach to online education that ensures you’re supported throughout your learning journey.
HEAD TUTOR
A subject expert who’ll guide you through content-related challenges.
SUCCESS ADVISOR
Your one-on-one support available during University hours (8am–5pm GMT) 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 access to Tableau and a PDF Reader. You may also need to view Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, as well as read and create documents in Microsoft Word or Excel.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Some courses may require certain software and resources, which will be communicated to you upon registration and/or at the start of the course. Please note that Google, Vimeo, and YouTube may be used in our course delivery.
