(no subject)

[martasfic]

Today I actually started a Coursera course I signed up for a few weeks ago, "Excel Fundamentals for Data Analysis." Basically they'll be talking about how to use Excel's organization tools and formulas to organize and analyze your data, and at the same time introducing you to the terms and concepts behind data analysis. Also it's part of a sequence that's supposed to move you along being able to write MySQL queries, which is something I've always wanted to tackle.

I don't know. It's dreadfully dull, whihc makes sense because --you know-- Excel, though I think I underestimated just how dry it would be. But it looks pretty useful too. It would be a little helpful for my current job, which involves pulling data from multiple Excel logs and combining it into a single report; and probably more useful for any future job. I'm just so analytically-oriented, I think if I had something concrete to say, hey, I know how to work in this world, particularly if it came with some kind of credential — even a baby credential like you'd get for completing a MOOC — it would open up some doors to me. Certainly it'd give me some confidence, and I'm really feeling very intellectually wilted with sitting at home away from everyone I used to work with, I guess. So I think it will be good for me, particularly once I get past the introductory stuff. We'll see, I guess. It's a start.

Also, I want to apologize for being such a downer on my birthday post. That's a time to celebrate with people. I'm just tired and a bit down, and that always seems to bleed through a bit more than I wish it would. Thanks for all the sympathy and cheers, though!

Comments

[shirebound]

Three cheers for you!

I know jusssst enough Excel to do very basic things, but I appreciate that there are a zillion things it can do. It might be very satisfying for you to dive more deeply into it.

[marta-bee.livejournal.com]

I think it will be! In the introductory video, they were talking about how there are formulas that let you combine and separate out columns (so if you had, say, Frodo in one column and Baggins in another, you could combine them into one "Frodo Baggins" column; or vice versa), and also some ways to strip out spaces at the end of a word so you can sort and group them together. I know enough about the tech to know how important and tricky that can be, though it's not a problem I run up against a lot. It seems like it could be interesting and challenging in a good way. Maybe. I hope.

Excel is actulaly very powrful, and I'm just enough of a geek to really like the idea of learning how to use it properly. Here's hoping!

[aliana1.livejournal.com]

Happy belated, Marta! You don't have to apologize at all for being tired/down/not perfectly cheery on your birthday or any other day whatsoever. *hugs*

Yeah, Excel is...not the most, exciting. There's a ton of resources/courses out there, of course, but feel free to ask if you ever have any questions or are interesting in learning about data processing in other types of programs, like, Stata, R, etc. (I've also done a small amount of SQL in the past but it's not my forte.) Good for you for being self-motivated; I've made a number of desultory stabs at learning other languages/programs over the years but always get sort of overwhelmed and revert back to my comfort zone.