Pathways in Data Science

*Taught Online for Summer 2020*  Learn how to glean insights and meaning from complex sets of data in this overview of a field with growing importance in business, government, and scientific research. Students will learn to use the transformational tools of data science and see how researchers are applying them in the service of social good. Working with faculty from the Department of Statistics, students will study how data is collected and stored and then how it is explored, visualized, and communicated. Using Python, students will learn techniques for classification, prediction, inference, and regression. Then, together with researchers from the University of Chicago Urban Labs, students will explore how these tools and methods can be used to inform social policy in multiple domains, including poverty, health, and social mobility.  Throughout the course, visiting guest lecturers will broaden students’ perspectives by sharing how data science is used in their diverse fields, ranging from business applications to biology.