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Free short course · Technology & IT

Data Analysis Basics with Spreadsheets

Learn the basics of data analysis in a spreadsheet using real Statistics Canada open data: tidy tables, cleaning, summaries, pivot tables and honest charts. Five short lessons and a quiz, with a certificate of completion.

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The short version

  • Free, no payment details

    Sign up with your name and e-mail and confirm it with a 6-digit code. There is nothing to buy.

  • About 60 minutes

    5 short lessons and one final quiz. Your progress is saved, so you can stop and come back on any device.

  • Certificate of completion

    Finish every lesson and score 70% or more on the final quiz. Retakes are unlimited.

  • Not a program

    This free short course is not part of a Ucademy diploma or certificate program and gives no program credit.

What you will learn

  • Follow a five-step analysis workflow from question to findings
  • Lay out data in a tidy table and tell numbers, text and dates apart
  • Clean a messy sheet with TRIM, PROPER, VALUE and Remove Duplicates
  • Calculate average, median, range, COUNTIF and differences, and check them by hand
  • Build a pivot table, group dates by month and use XLOOKUP
  • Make a line chart from Statistics Canada data and write a four-sentence summary

Who it is for

Adults who want a first step into data analysis, including people considering technology or business roles in Alberta. No analysis experience is needed. The course is an introduction and is not a qualification in data analysis.

What you need

  • A computer with an internet connection
  • Excel, Google Sheets or a similar spreadsheet program for the practice examples
  • About 60 minutes in total, which you can split across several days

Lessons

  1. 1The analysis workflow and a Statistics Canada table12 min
  2. 2Cleaning a messy spreadsheet12 min
  3. 3Summarizing data with formulas12 min
  4. 4Sorting, filtering and pivot tables12 min
  5. 5Charts and honest findings12 min
  6. ✓Data Analysis Basics with Spreadsheets quizfinal quiz

Where this course can lead

Software & Web Developer Diploma

This course is a short, practical introduction. The full program goes much further: 960 hours online of full-stack development: web pages, programming, databases and team tools.

Related reading

Frequently asked questions

Yes. You sign up for a free Ucademy account and take the five lessons and the quiz at no cost.

Yes. After you finish the lessons and pass the quiz you receive a Ucademy certificate of completion. The course is not part of a Ucademy diploma or certificate program.

About 60 minutes in total, in five lessons of 10 to 15 minutes. It is self-paced and fully online.

No. The course starts with the basics. You need a spreadsheet program such as Excel or Google Sheets, and the lessons explain each step.

The main example uses a public table from Statistics Canada: the monthly unemployment rate for Alberta and Canada. Lesson 1 shows how to find and download such tables yourself.

No. It is a free short course, not part of a Ucademy diploma or certificate program, and it does not give program credit.

Start Data Analysis Basics with Spreadsheets today

Free, online and at your own pace, with a certificate of completion.

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