Business Analytics 

offered by Harvard University

Recognize trends in data and detect outliers

• Summarize data sets concisely

• Analyze relationships between variable

• Create visual representations of data in Excel

• Define and calculate descriptive statistics

• Create representative samples and draw conclusions about the larger population

• Craft sound survey questions

Calculate sample statistics and apply the

properties of the normal distribution

• Calculate confidence intervals to estimate the

accuracy of statistics

• Quantify the evidence in favor of or against your hypothesis in order to make managerial decision

Develop and test hypotheses in Excel to assess the impact of changes on an entire population or estimate differences between populations

• Interpret the results of a series of website A/B tests

Analyze the relationship between two variables and develop forecasts for values outside the data set

• Identify the best fit line for a data set and interpret its equation through an analysis of housing data

• Perform a regression analysis of box office and home video sales using Excel and interpret the output

• Identify relationships among three or more variables to improve understanding of data and provide better forecast

Estimate the relative predictive power of different combinations of variables by performing and

interpreting a multiple variable regression analysis using Excel

• Apply multiple regression analysis to a staffing challenge faced by a hotel

• Expand the range of your analysis by using dummy and lagged variable