Intro to Python for Data Analytics

This course is now fully subscribed, but we intend to run the same course again in Autumn 2019. Please contact Kylie Norman if you would like to register your interest for this course.

This two-day course, running in conjunction with Leeds Digital Festival 2019, provides an introduction to Python programming with a focus on data analytics. The course will introduce some basics in Python programming such as data types, basic operations, data sequences and data structures, control flows, exceptions and object-oriented programming. We will then focus on working with actual data, such as survey data, time-series data, JSON data (e.g. Twitter data), and geo-spatial data. This will include visualization and statistical analysis of numerical data. The course will also give an introduction in spatial analyses and visualization of geo-spatial data and an introduction into natural language processing and text mining of large textual data. Short lectures will be interspersed with hands-on practical exercises with plenty of opportunity to work with real data of various types.

 

Objectives

The participants of this course will leave with a practical understanding of Python and its applications in data analytics, including being able to continue exploring Python in self-study.

 

Course Tutor

Dr Viktoria Spaiser has a background in Sociology (PhD , Bielefeld University, Germany, 2012), Political Science (MA in Conflict, Security and Development, King’s College London, UK, 2008) and Computer Science (German Diploma, University of Applied Sciences Trier, Germany, 2013). She was a visiting researcher in the Computational Social Science Research Group at ETH Zurich in 2012 and a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Futures Studies Stockholm (2012-2014) and at the Department of Mathematics, Uppsala University in Sweden (2014-2015).

Since August 2015 she has been the University Academic Fellow in Political Science Informatics at the University of Leeds, POLIS and is also affiliated with the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics (LIDA). Her research interests include applying mathematical and computational approaches (such as Dynamical Systems Modelling, Bayesian Statistics, Agent Based Modelling and Data Science Approaches) to social and political science research questions. Most recently, she has been interested in public goods dilemmas and in combining data science and experimental methods.

 

Timings

Thursday 2nd May

08:30-12:30: Session 1

12:30-14:00: Lunch

14:00-16:00: Session 2

 

Friday 3rd May

09:00-12:00: Session 3

12:00-13:00: Lunch

13:00-16:00: Session 4

 

Who is this course suitable for?

No prior knowledge is assumed for this course other than having basic IT skills and basic statistical understanding.

 

Fees

£100 - Students

£200 - Academic, public and charitable sector employees

£400 - Other

 

If you have any queries, please contact Kylie Norman.