Data Analysis
A.Y. 2021/2022
Learning objectives
Aim of the course is to gain a series of basic competences for retrieving, treating, analysing and presenting qualitative and quantitative information. More in detail, students will learn how to perform queries in digital catalogues, as well as in online datahubs with political, economic and juridical data, and how to download the relevant information in different formats. Furthermore, they will further learn how to use the most common electronic spreadsheets to catalogue, analyse and present those data.
Expected learning outcomes
After taking this course students should be familiar with the Unimi electronic databases, and will be able to download research articles and access datasets. They will know how to pose a (research) question and download relevant data published by international organization and institutes such as IMF, WB, OECD, WGI, Eurostat, Eurobarometer, etc. Finally, they will be able to describe and communicate findings of simple descriptive analyses using graphs and tables produced with Microsoft Excel.
Lesson period: First trimester
Assessment methods: Giudizio di approvazione
Assessment result: superato/non superato
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Lesson period
First trimester
Teaching methods:
Asynchronous, short duration lectures (videolectures constituted by the recording of the teacher's desktop with audio explanations) will be made available on Microsoft Teams, covering topics of each week of the course. Lectures planned by the class schedule will be used to revise and deepen what proposed asynchronously. Laboratories will be provided as asynchronous video lessons.
Reference materials:
Course program and reference materials will not change.
Learning verification procedures and assessment criteria:
Online exams will be carried using the Exam.net platform, with the rules published on the Unimi website. The written test will have the same structure of the version in presence. The details and calendars of exams will be published and constantly updated on the course website on Ariel.
Asynchronous, short duration lectures (videolectures constituted by the recording of the teacher's desktop with audio explanations) will be made available on Microsoft Teams, covering topics of each week of the course. Lectures planned by the class schedule will be used to revise and deepen what proposed asynchronously. Laboratories will be provided as asynchronous video lessons.
Reference materials:
Course program and reference materials will not change.
Learning verification procedures and assessment criteria:
Online exams will be carried using the Exam.net platform, with the rules published on the Unimi website. The written test will have the same structure of the version in presence. The details and calendars of exams will be published and constantly updated on the course website on Ariel.
Course syllabus
1. Introduction to the course and the laboratories and information about the software; Unimi electronic resources; how to find and download books, research articles, and newswires through Unimi databases; major internet databases to look for economic, political and legal resources.
2. Data, variables, and measurement level: nominal, ordinal, and interval variables.
3. How to describe a variable.
4. Structure and format of Excel.
5. Data entry and import with Excel.
6. Data management with Excel: sorting, filtering, and formatting data.
7. Conditional formatting, removing duplicates, formulas, and absolute/relative references in Excel.
8. Computing the main descriptive statistics using Excel formulas.
9. Analysing data with Excel pivotTables: creating a pivotTable; computing descriptive statistics by group; craeting a frequency distribution; two-way tables; pivotGraphs.
10. Creating graphs in Excel and how to present figures and tables.
2. Data, variables, and measurement level: nominal, ordinal, and interval variables.
3. How to describe a variable.
4. Structure and format of Excel.
5. Data entry and import with Excel.
6. Data management with Excel: sorting, filtering, and formatting data.
7. Conditional formatting, removing duplicates, formulas, and absolute/relative references in Excel.
8. Computing the main descriptive statistics using Excel formulas.
9. Analysing data with Excel pivotTables: creating a pivotTable; computing descriptive statistics by group; craeting a frequency distribution; two-way tables; pivotGraphs.
10. Creating graphs in Excel and how to present figures and tables.
Prerequisites for admission
There are no preliminary requirements different from those requested for the registration to the bachelor's degree.
Teaching methods
Lectures held in classroom and streamed through Microsoft Teams (a registration will be available after the class) based on weekly slides and handouts. Rules and criteria for participating to lectures in presence, requiring reservation through a suitable app, will be published in due time on the Ariel pages of the course as well as all the above materials and any notice related to Covid-19 regulation changes.
Laboratories will consist of registered Microsoft Excel tutorials shared through Microsoft Teams. Students will then have the opportunity to meet the course tutor online or in presence in small groups.
Course material (slides, labs, and data) will be made available on Microsoft Teams and on Ariel at the following address: https://fviscontida.ariel.ctu.unimi.it.
Laboratories will consist of registered Microsoft Excel tutorials shared through Microsoft Teams. Students will then have the opportunity to meet the course tutor online or in presence in small groups.
Course material (slides, labs, and data) will be made available on Microsoft Teams and on Ariel at the following address: https://fviscontida.ariel.ctu.unimi.it.
Teaching Resources
Slides and handouts provided by the instructor on Ariel and Microsoft Teams.
Assessment methods and Criteria
Attendance to the course is mandatory and will be checked through weekly assignments. Students who will complete less than 90% of the weekly assignments will not be allowed to take the exam as attendees. The assessment relies on a computer-based exam lasting 50 minutes for attendees and 70 for non-attendees. The exam is divided in two parts. In the first, students will have to answer open-ended and yes-and-no questions on statistics and Microsoft Excel. In the second part, students will have to retrieve data and perform practical exercises using Microsoft Excel. The final grade will be passed or not passed.
INF/01 - INFORMATICS - University credits: 3
Basic computer skills: 20 hours
Professor:
Visconti Francesco