Interactive Data Visualization

Dr. Catherine Plaisant and Dr. Galit Shmueli

Aim of Course:

This course is about the interactive exploration of data, and how it is achieved using state-of-the-art data visualization software. Participants will learn to explore a range of different data types and structures. They will learn about various interactive techniques for manipulating and examining the data and producing effective visualizations.

The course is very hands-on in terms of the learning process. Participants will be guided through an exploration of quantitative business data to discern meaningful patterns, trends, relationships, and exceptions that reveal business performance, potential problems and opportunities.

Who Should Take This Course:

Statistical analysts and data miners who need to explore and graph multivariate data, either to form impressions of the data or as a preliminary step to performing statistical tests or building models.

For those enrolled in a Program of Advanced Statistical Studies, this is a required or elective course in the following Programs:

• Data Mining - required

Course Program:

The course is structured as follows:

The Instructor:

Dr. Catherine Plaisant is a Research Scientist at the Human-Computer Interaction Lab of the University of Maryland's Institute for Advanced Computer Studies. She is a co-author of the 5th ed. of Ben Shneiderman's Designing the User Interface, and of dozens of articles in refereed publications.

Dr. Galit Shmueli is Associate Professor of Statistics in the department of Decision, Operations & Information Technologies at the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, where she is also co-director of the eMarkets research lab. Dr. Shmueli's research has been published in the statistics, information systems, and marketing literature; she is a co-author of Data Mining for Business Intelligence, Modeling Online Auctions, and Statistical Methods in e-Commerce Research.

Organization of the Course:

The course takes place over the internet, at statistics.com. During each course week, you participate at times of your own choosing - there are no set times when you must be online. Course participants will be given access to a private discussion board. In class discussions led by the instructor, you can post questions, seek clarification, and interact with your fellow students and the instructor. The course is scheduled to take place over 4 weeks, and typically requires 15 hours per week. At the beginning of each week, you receive the relevant material, in addition to answers to exercises from the previous session. During the week, you are expected to go over the course materials and work through exercises. Discussion among participants is encouraged. The instructor will provide answers and comments.

Certificates and Grades:

You may be interested only in learning the material presented, and not be concerned with grades or certificates. Or you may be enrolled in a statistics.com Program in Advanced Statistical Studies that requires demonstration of proficiency in the subject, in which case your work will be assessed for purposes of issuing a grade. Or you may require only a "Certificate of Course Completion," along with professional development credit in the form of Continuing Education Units (CEU's). As you begin the class, you will be asked to specify your category.

Credit:

This course offers continuing education units (CEU's). For those successfully completing the course (generally this means marks of 50% or better on the homework), 5.0 CEU's and a certificate will be issued by statistics.com, upon request.

Dates:

Oct. 29 - Nov. 26, 2010
Click here to be notified of future course offerings.

Participants gain access to the online materials on the first day of the course, and typically spend about 15 hours per week (at their convenience). You retain full access to course materials, including discussion board, for two weeks after the course closing date.

Level:

beginning-intermediate

Prerequisite:

The equivalent of Introduction to Statistics 1: Inference for a Single Variable, and Introduction to Statistics 2: Working with Bivariate Data (and, if necessary before these courses, Introduction to Statistics for Beginners or Survey of Statistics for Beginners).

For additional information about course prerequisites, click here.

Course Text:

The required text for this course is Now You See It: Simple Visualization Techniques for Quantitative Analysis by Stephen Few. It can be purchased on Amazon here. Please make sure you have the book prior to the beginning of the course.

Software:

Participants will benefit from being able to implement illustrated techniques in a visualization package. The use of Spotfire is illustrated. For information on obtaining a trial package of Spotfire, click here.

Registration:

Register Online - $499
Register Online (academic) - $399 (you must be affiliated with a college, university or high school)

Add $50 service fee if you require a prior invoice, or if you need to submit a purchase order or voucher, pay by wire transfer or EFT, or refund and reprocess a prior payment. Please use this printed registration form, for these and other special orders.

Note: Courses may fill up at any time and registrations are processed in the order in which they are received. Your registration will be confirmed for the first available course date, unless you specify otherwise.

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