Learning Outcome
Important concepts in probability theory including random variables and independence
Individual Course
Data Science: Probability
Course Length
8 weeks
1-2 hours a week
Featuring faculty from:
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Enroll as Individual
Certificate Price:
$ 149
Enroll as Individual
Certificate Price:
$ 149
In this online course taught by Harvard Professor Rafael Irizarry, learn probability theory—essential for a data scientist—using a case study on the financial crisis of 2007-2008.
In this course,part of our Professional Certificate Program in Data Science, you will learn valuable concepts in probability theory. The motivation for this course is the circumstances surrounding the financial crisis of 2007-2008. Part of what caused this financial crisis was that the risk of some securities sold by financial institutions was underestimated. To begin to understand this very complicated event, we need to understand the basics of probability.
We will introduce important concepts such as random variables, independence, Monte Carlo simulations, expected values, standard errors, and the Central Limit Theorem. These statistical concepts are fundamental to conducting statistical tests on data and understanding whether the data you are analyzing is likely occurring due to an experimental method or to chance.
Probability theory is the mathematical foundation of statistical inference which is indispensable for analyzing data affected by chance, and thus essential for data scientists.
Self-Guided
EDX
Learning Outcome
How to perform a Monte Carlo simulation and the importance of the Central Limit Theorem
Learning Outcome
The meaning of expected values and standard errors and how to compute them in R
- Learn from Harvard faculty
- Do it on your own time
- Get a certificate, add it to your resume
- Be part of the Harvard Community
Faculty
Your Instructor
Rafael Irizarry
Professor of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Rafael Irizarry is a Professor of Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Professor of Biostatistics and Computational Biology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. For the past 15 years, Dr. Irizarry’s research has focused on the analysis of genomics data. During this time, he has also taught several classes, all related to applied statistics. Dr. Irizarry is one of the founders of the Bioconductor Project, an open source and open development software project for the analysis of genomic data. His publications related to these topics have been highly cited and his software implementations widely downloaded.
Read full bio.
Complete your journey with this Professional Certificate Series
These courses can be bundled together to receive a professional certificate at a discounted price.
Learn More- 9 Months
- 1 Year & 5 Months
- Earn Your Certificate
Data Science: Capstone
15-20 hours a week • Starting Oct 15, 2025
Data Science: Visualization
1-2 hours a week • Starting Oct 25, 2025
Data Science: Inference and Modeling
1-2 hours per week • Starting Oct 15, 2025
Data Science: Machine Learning
2-4 hours a week • Starting Oct 15, 2025
Data Science: Wrangling
1-2 hours a week • Starting Oct 15, 2025
Data Science: Linear Regression
1-2 hours a week • Starting Oct 15, 2025
Data Science: R Basics
1-2 hours a week • Starting Oct 15, 2025
Data Science: Productivity Tools
1-2 hours a week • Starting Oct 15, 2025
Ways to take this course
Audit or Pursue a Verified Certificate
A Verified Certificate costs $149 and provides unlimited access to full course materials, activities, tests, and forums. At the end of the course, learners who earn a passing grade can receive a certificate.
Alternatively, learners can Audit the course for free and have access to select course material, activities, tests, and forums. Please note that this track does not offer a certificate for learners who earn a passing grade.
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