Data Analysis for Social Scientists
Learn methods for harnessing and analyzing data to answer questions of cultural, social, economic, and policy interest.
Data Analysis for Social Scientists
Learn methods for harnessing and analyzing data to answer questions of cultural, social, economic, and policy interest.
The course is free to audit. Learners can take a proctored exam and earn a course certificate by paying a fee, which varies by ability to pay. Please scroll down for more information on the verified and audit track features and see FAQ articles for more information on the pricing structure. Enroll now in this course by selecting the "enroll now" button at the top of the page.
What you'll learn
- Intuition behind probability and statistical analysis
- How to summarize and describe data
- A basic understanding of various methods of evaluating social programs
- How to present results in a compelling and truthful way
- Skills and tools for using R for data analysis
Prerequisites
No prior preparation in probability and statistics is required, but familiarity with algebra and calculus is assumed.
Meet your instructors
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Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics in the Department of Economics -
Senior Lecturer
Esther Duflo
Esther Duflo
Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics in the Department of Economics
Esther Duflo is the winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. She is also the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics in the Department of Economics at MIT. She was educated at the Ecole Normale Supérieure, in Paris, and at MIT. She has received numerous honors and prizes including a John Bates Clark Medal for the best American economist under 40 in 2010, a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship in 2009. She was recognized as one of the best eight young economists by The Economist magazine, one of the 100 most influential thinkers by Foreign Policy since the list exists, and one of the “Forty under 40” most influential business leaders under forty by Fortune magazine in 2010.
To learn more, please click here.
Sara Fisher Ellison
Sara Fisher Ellison
Senior Lecturer
Sara Fisher Ellison is a Senior Lecturer in the MIT Economics Department. She was an undergraduate at Purdue University and received graduate degrees from both Cambridge University and MIT. She has been a fellow at both the Institute for Advanced Study and the Hoover Institute. Her recent research has investigated a number of questions in industrial organization, with a focus on the pharmaceutical industry and ecommerce. She serves on a number of editorial boards. She has taught at the undergraduate, MBA, and Ph.D. levels, and has received awards for both outstanding teaching and pedagogical innovation. To learn more, please click here.