ClassInfo - Fall 2022 Public Affairs Classes

Fall 2022 | PA 5932 Section 001: Working with Data: Finding, Managing, and Using Data (23851)

Instructor(s): Yi Wang
Class Component:: Laboratory
Credits:: 1.5 Credits
Grading Basis:: Student Option
Instructor Consent:: No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:: In Person
Enrollment Requirements:: Graduate Student
Times and Locations:: Second Half of Term

10/25/2022 - 12/14/2022

Mon, Wed 11:15AM - 12:30PM

UMTC, West Bank

Hubert H Humphrey Center 85
Enrollment Status:: Open (3 of 30 seats filled)
Also Offered:: (Tentative) Fall 2024
(Tentative) Fall 2023
Fall 2022
Fall 2021

Course Catalog Description:

Hands-on experience with common issues that arise when using secondary data sets. After successful completion of the course, students should be able to: 1. Determine where to find data and information about data (metadata) for policy-related topics. 2. Repurpose, manipulate, and/or clean data collected by someone else or for a different purpose in order to answer questions. 3. Determine appropriate units of analysis, weights, data structure, and variables of interest in order to answer policy-related questions. 4. Document workflow to allow reproducibility and protect the confidentiality of the data. 5. Conduct basic data manipulation tasks (making tables) using existing software including Excel and Stata. 6. Learn how to find answers for questions through online support. This course will focus on Excel and Stata equally. Previous experience in Stata is preferred, but the course will include a brief introduction to relevant skills.

Class Notes:

http://classinfo.umn.edu/?wang8262+PA5932+Fall2022

Class Description:

(Please ignore the Course Catalog Description above--it is outdated. See the Class Description and Syllabus below for the course content. --Yi 08/2022)

This course will teach you skills to find, download, manipulate, combine, and organize quantitative data to answer policy questions in efficient ways.

After successful completion of this course, you should be able to:

1. Determine where to find data for policy-related topics.

2. Clean and manipulate 2nd hand data sets to answer policy-related questions.

3. Automate table-making for descriptive statistics and regression results.

4. Produce publication-quality figures that help you to answer policy-related questions.

4. Manage your data effectively and ensure the reproducibility of your research.

The software applications used in this class include Excel, Stata, and Adobe Illustrator.

Who Should Take This Class?:

Recommended for graduate students who are taking or have taken statistics classes and want to get more hands-on experience working with Excel and Stata. Prior knowledge of Excel, Stata, and Adobe Illustrator is not required.

Grading: