ONLINE: Introduction to Data Analysis

Upon successful completion of this course participants will be able to:

• Explain why quantitative analysis and analytics is important in decision making
• Explain the types of decisions that can be made analytically in an organizational setting
• Describe different decision making models and tools
• Identify the fundamental concepts of measurement including levels of measurement, reliability and validity, errors, measurement and information bias
• Explain how quality data affects decision making (GIGO principle)
• Describe methods of ensuring the quality of data
• Evaluate techniques for ensuring accurate research design
• Describe how research is used in different settings: business, education, health care, the military, government, nonprofits
• Explain data management techniques including transforming data, recoding data, and handling missing data
• Apply appropriate decision making techniques to a specific case

This offering is targeted to individuals who meet or exceed the following professional demographics:  

• Entry-level public procurement and central warehouse professionals who serve as assistants, coordinators, buyers, or equivalent functions within their respective entities.   

• Non-procurement managers and supervisors who are responsible for either the procurement function or staff who provide procurement functions under delegated authority.   

• Professionals who are employed by governing entities and special authorities (such as K-12 and higher education, publicly-owned utilities, transportation providers, and other publicly-funded or created organizations) that either serve within or manage the procurement function.  

• Suppliers or representatives of suppliers seeking to understand the public procurement function from a holistic level, including the policies, standards, and procedures by which public entities must function.