Comprehensive Data Analysis Course Roadmap
Phase 1: Foundations (4-6 weeks)
Mathematics Fundamentals
• Statistics Basics
o Descriptive statistics (mean, median, mode, standard deviation)
o Probability distributions (normal, binomial, Poisson)
o Hypothesis testing and confidence intervals
o p-values and statistical significance
• Linear Algebra Essentials
o Vectors and matrices
o Matrix operations
o Eigenvalues and eigenvectors
Programming Foundations
• Python Basics
o Syntax and data types
o Control structures
o Functions and modules
o Object-oriented programming basics
• Development Environment Setup
o Jupyter Notebooks
o Integrated Development Environments (PyCharm, VS Code)
o Terminal basics and package management
Data Analysis Tools Introduction
• Excel/Google Sheets
o Formulas and functions
o Pivot tables
o Data visualization basics
o Data cleaning techniques
Phase 2: Core Data Analysis Skills (6-8 weeks)
Data Manipulation Libraries
• NumPy
o Array operations
o Broadcasting
o Vectorized operations
o Mathematical functions
• Pandas
o DataFrames and Series
o Data loading and saving
o Data cleaning and preprocessing
o Group by operations
o Merging, joining, and concatenating
Data Visualization
• Matplotlib
o Basic plots (line, scatter, bar, histogram)
o Customizing plots
o Multiple subplots
• Seaborn
o Statistical visualizations
o Categorical plots
o Distribution plots
o Heatmaps and correlation matrices
• Plotly
o Interactive visualizations
o Dashboards
SQL for Data Analysis
• Database Fundamentals
o Relational database concepts
o Schema design
• SQL Queries
o SELECT, WHERE, GROUP BY, HAVING
o JOINs (INNER, LEFT, RIGHT, FULL)
o Subqueries and CTEs
o Window functions
Phase 3: Advanced Analysis Techniques (8-10 weeks)
Statistical Analysis
• Inferential Statistics
o ANOVA
o Chi-square tests
o Non-parametric tests
• Regression Analysis
o Linear regression
o Multiple regression
o Logistic regression
o Regularization techniques
Machine Learning Fundamentals
• Supervised Learning
o Classification algorithms
o Regression algorithms
o Model evaluation metrics
o Cross-validation
• Unsupervised Learning
o Clustering (K-means, hierarchical)
o Dimensionality reduction (PCA)
o Anomaly detection
Advanced Pandas and Data Processing
• Time Series Analysis
o Resampling and rolling calculations
o Seasonal decomposition
o Forecasting basics
• Text Data Processing
o Regular expressions
o Basic NLP techniques
o Text preprocessing
Phase 4: Specialized Skills & Tools (6-8 weeks)
Big Data Technologies
• Introduction to Big Data
o Hadoop ecosystem
o Spark basics
• Data Processing at Scale
o PySpark
o Dask
Data Engineering Concepts
• ETL Processes
o Data pipelines
o Workflow management tools (Airflow)
• Data Warehousing
o Star and snowflake schemas
o OLAP vs. OLTP
Business Intelligence Tools
• Tableau/Power BI
o Dashboard creation
o Interactive reports
o Data storytelling
Phase 5: Applied Projects & Professional Development (Ongoing)
Portfolio Projects
• Guided Projects
o Exploratory data analysis
o Predictive modeling
o Dashboard creation
• Independent Projects
o Domain-specific analyses
o Kaggle competitions
o Open-source contributions
Professional Skills
• Communication
o Data storytelling
o Presentation skills
o Technical writing
• Collaboration
o Version control with Git
o Project management
o Code review practices
Industry Specialization
• Domain-Specific Knowledge
o Finance/Economics
o Healthcare
o Marketing
o Other industries
Assessment Milestones
Skill Checkpoints
• End of Phase 1: Create basic data visualizations and perform simple analyses in Python
• End of Phase 2: Build a complete data analysis pipeline from raw data to insights
• End of Phase 3: Implement machine learning models to solve prediction problems
• End of Phase 4: Design and deploy scalable data solutions and interactive dashboards
Portfolio Benchmarks
• 3 guided projects completed
• 2 independent projects with business impact
• 1 collaborative project or competition entry
