How Science Turns Data Into Knowledge

Course Overview

How Science Turns Data Into Knowledge teaches you how to evaluate scientific claims critically, address experimental limitations, and recognize the roles of trust and responsibility within research. During the course, you’ll explore the nuances of significance testing, scientific research methods, and science communication, emphasizing the importance of carefully interpreting statistical results. After learning about the scientific process, you’ll learn how science can make its way into the news cycle—and how critical context can be lost amidst the noise. By the end of the course, you’ll be able to think more critically about the media you consume and how you can view science news and information with a more nuanced perspective. This is the second course in Understanding Data: Navigating Statistics, Science, and AI Specialization, in which you’ll gain a core foundation for statistical and data literacy and gain an understanding of the data we encounter in our everyday lives.