NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

NUS Business School

Department of Analytics & Operations

DAO2702 Programming for Business Analytics

Lecturers: Dr. XIONG Peng

Dr. TUNG, Yi-liang

Session: Semester 2, 2018/2019

Description:

This module is an introductory course to business analytics and data science. It covers basic Python
programming and preliminary statistics, with a great emphasis on addressing practical business
problems and real datasets.
data science is an interdisciplinary field that requires business insights and expertise, proficiency in
programming, as well as a strong background in mathematics and statistics. Therefore, lectures and
tutorials in this semester would focus on trainings in the following perspectives:
 Python programming and Pythonic coding styles
 Analytical and visualization packages
 Math and statistics
 Practical business insights and problem solving

Objective:

With the training of programming, statistics, and business insights, students are supposed to gain a big
picture of business analytics, and enhance their skills in using software tools and practical problem-
solving.

Syllabus:
1. Basics of Python programming
1. Data structures and flow control
2. Functions and packages
2. Data analysis with Python
1. Analytical tools: NumPy, SciPy, Pandas
2. Data visualization: Matplotlib
3. Data collection and cleaning
3. Statistical inference
1. Sampling and population
2. Parameter estimation
3. Confidence intervals
4. Hypothesis testing
4. Linear regression
1. Model assumptions and interpretations
2. Categorical variables and interaction effects
3. Model selection

Schedule:
Week 1.
Course Overview
Introduction to Programming and Business Analytics

Week 2.
Python Basics I: data types and control flow

Week 3.
Python Basics II: compound data structures

Week 4.
Python Basics III: functions, modules, and packages

Week 5.
Statistics I: datasets, sampling, and inference

Week 6.
Statistics II: confidence intervals and hypothesis testing

Week 7.
Advanced Python I: organizing data with pandas, data frame structures and data manipulation tools

Week 8.
Advanced Python II: obtaining data from the Internet: crawling data from API (json/XML),
crawling data from HTML page

Week 9.
Advanced Python III: data cleaning I: tidying data (subset, transformation)

Week 10.
Advanced Python IV: data cleaning II: merging data

Week 11.
Linear Regression I: predictive modelling, interpretation of regression outputs (coefficient,
confidence interval, p-value, R^2)

Week 12.
Linear Regression II: categorical variables, modeling nonlinearity (transformation, interaction).

Week 13.
Linear Regression III: advanced topics: model selection, missing data, outliers.

Prerequisites:
DAO1704 Decision Analytics using Spreadsheets

Assessment:
Continuous Assessment:
Class Participation 10%
Group Project 20%
Midterm Quiz 10%
Assignments 20%
Final Examination: 40%