Data Science: Visualization
Learn basic data visualization principles and how to apply them using ggplot2.
In this online course taught by Harvard Professor Rafael Irizarry, learn basic data visualization principles and how to apply them using ggplot2.
1-2 hours a week
1-2 hours a week
What You'll Learn
As part of our Professional Certificate Program in Data Science, this course covers the basics of data visualization and exploratory data analysis. We will use three motivating examples and ggplot2, a data visualization package for the statistical programming language R. We will start with simple datasets and then graduate to case studies about world health, economics, and infectious disease trends in the United States.
We'll also be looking at how mistakes, biases, systematic errors, and other unexpected problems often lead to data that should be handled with care. The fact that it can be difficult or impossible to notice a mistake within a dataset makes data visualization particularly important.
The growing availability of informative datasets and software tools has led to increased reliance on data visualizations across many areas. Data visualization provides a powerful way to communicate data-driven findings, motivate analyses, and detect flaws. This course will give you the skills you need to leverage data to reveal valuable insights and advance your career.
The course will be delivered via edX and connect learners around the world. By the end of the course, participants will understand the following concepts:
- Data visualization principles
- How to communicate data-driven findings
- How to use ggplot2 to create custom plots
- The weaknesses of several widely-used plots and why you should avoid them
Your Instructors
Ways to take this course
When you enroll in this course, you will have the option of pursuing a Verified Certificate or Auditing the Course.
A Verified Certificate costs $219 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.