For various and sundry reasons, I’m participating in a few MOOCs this month on data analysis and interpretation. Yes, I already know these things and so the MOOCs are at best refresher content. However, we are likely becoming a SAS shop at work, which I’ve never had to learn, and the MOOCs – offered through Coursera by Wesleyan* – include specific guidance on learning SAS for data analysis.
One of the requirements of the courses is to maintain a public blog for various assignments related to the courses. I though briefly about starting a new tumblr for this purpose, but decided that adding another social media outlet to my existing bouquet might just put me over the edge. Therefore, I’ll be posting assignments here. You’re all welcome to comment (either directly on the blog or on the posts that push to Facebook or Twitter) if you wish, or to ignore them if you wish (I should hope that’s fairly obvious generally).
I’m not sure how frequently I’ll need to post for the courses, or whether I’ll work in posts between the required ones on other topics throughout the next month. The next post, though, will include information on the research question and data set I’ll be using for the courses, so you’ll know more then about whether you’ll want to tune in or tune out in the interim.
* Wesleyan offers the courses free if you take them as individual courses**, or you can choose to pay a certification fee to earn a specialization in Data Analysis and Interpretation. At the moment, I’m opting not to pay the fee for the specialization – it’s hopefully duplicative given my Masters degree! – but you, of course, have the option to “upgrade” later.
** The courses I’m taking (all at once because why not?) are:
Prioritizing the Paranoias 