Master’s in Business Analytics Program Overview, Curriculum and Courses

This course provides students a technical foundation for Business Analytics. The concepts taught in this course, i.e., principles of programming in Python, statistical analysis, and database management will be useful for your other courses as well as in your career in analytics.

Module 1: Python programming: Writing good software is not the same thing as following a set of cookbook instructions, and a good program is more than a collection of statements. Learning a computer language is a lot like learning any other language. Students not only need to study the syntax but immerse themselves in the semantics of Python. Students will learn Python by studying examples and developing their own programs.

Module 2: An Overview of Basic Statistics. The goal of this module will be to “review” basic ideas of applied inferential statistics that you will utilize throughout your later statistics courses in the program. We will focus primarily on getting you comfortable with the common notation used in statistics and building a conceptual understanding of the fundamental topics. Whenever possible, we will use computer output to demonstrate a statistical technique. Theoretical concepts will be taught to the extent that they will help us know when (and when not) to use statistical tests and how to interpret their results.

Module 3: Database management. Database management systems are at the heart of today’s business information systems. They facilitate the sharing of data across the organization, and allow for effective business operation and strategic decision making by managers. Data management, including developing an effective database design, and knowledge of how to store and retrieve data, constitutes a core activity for any organization. Specifically, we deal with Relational databases and how to manipulate them using Structured Query Language (SQL). The content covered is technical and will require a significant amount of self-paced practice for successful completion. Our platform of choice is Oracle, a widely used commercial database management system (DBMS).

4 units