8-Week Study Plan for Data
Analysis with Python
This study plan follows the 80-20 rule, focusing on the core 20% of data analysis
concepts (Python basics, Pandas, NumPy, Matplotlib, and basic statistics) to enable
you to build projects in 8 weeks. Each week includes theory, practice, and a mini-
project to reinforce learning. Resources are free or low-cost, and tasks encourage
independent problem-solving.
Prerequisites
Install Python (via Anaconda or python.org) or use Google Colab (free, cloud-
based).
Dedicate 5–10 hours/week: 2–3 hours for learning, 2–3 hours for practice, 1–2
hours for the mini-project.
Use free resources like Codecademy, Khan Academy, or YouTube tutorials.
Optional: Join a community (e.g., Reddit’s r/learnpython) for support.
Week 1: Python Basics – Variables, Data
Types, and Control Flow
Goal: Learn Python fundamentals to handle data.
Topics:
o
Installing Python and setting up an IDE (e.g., VS Code, Jupyter
Notebook).
o
o
Variables (int, float, string, boolean), lists, and dictionaries.
o
o
Basic operations (arithmetic, string manipulation).
o
o
Conditionals (if-else) and loops (for, while).
Resources:
o
Codecademy: Python 3 Course (free, first few modules).
o
o
YouTube: Corey Schafer’s Python Beginner Playlist (free).
o
o
Book: “Automate the Boring Stuff with Python” (free online, Chapters
1–4).
o
Practice:
o
Write a program to calculate the average of 5 numbers entered by the
user.
o
o
Create a list of 10 items (e.g., groceries) and print every second item
using a loop.
o
o
Write a program that checks if a number is even or odd using if-else.
Mini-Project: Grade Calculator
Task: Write a program that takes 5 test scores as input, stores them in a
list, and calculates the average score. Print a message based on the
average (e.g., “Pass” if ≥70, “Fail” if <70).
o
o
Key Concepts: Variables, lists, loops, conditionals.
o
o
Challenge: Handle invalid inputs (e.g., non-numeric scores) with an
error message.
Time: 6 hours (2h learning, 3h practice, 1h project).
Week 2: Python Functions and Working
with Files
Goal: Write reusable code and handle data files.
Topics:
Defining functions (parameters, return statements).
o
o
Importing modules (e.g., math, random).
o
o
Reading/writing CSV files using Python’s csv module.
o
o
Error handling (try-except).
Resources:
Codecademy: Python Functions (free module).
o
o
YouTube: Sentdex’s Python Basics (Functions and File I/O).
o
o
“Automate the Boring Stuff” (Chapters 5–6, 8).
o
Practice:
Write a function that calculates the square of a number.
o
o
Create a function that takes a list of numbers and returns the
maximum.
o
o
Read a CSV file (e.g., sample dataset from Kaggle) and print its
contents.
Mini-Project: CSV Reader
Task: Download a simple CSV dataset (e.g., “Iris” from Kaggle).
Write a function to read the CSV and print the first 5 rows. Add error
handling for missing files.
o
o
Key Concepts: Functions, file I/O, error handling.
o
o
Challenge: Allow the user to specify how many rows to print.
Time: 6 hours (2h learning, 3h practice, 1h project).
Week 3: Introduction to NumPy for
Numerical Data
Goal: Use NumPy for efficient numerical computations.
Topics:
Installing and importing NumPy.
o
o
Arrays (creation, indexing, slicing).
o
o
Basic operations (sum, mean, min, max).
o
o
Array reshaping and broadcasting.
Resources:
NumPy Quickstart Tutorial (numpy.org, free).
o
o
YouTube: Corey Schafer’s NumPy Tutorial.
o
o
Kaggle: Python Data Science Handbook (NumPy section, free).
Practice:
Create a NumPy array of 10 numbers and calculate its mean and sum.
o
o
Slice a 2D array to extract a specific row or column.
o
o
Generate a 3x3 array of random numbers using np.random.
Mini-Project: Temperature Converter
Task: Create a NumPy array of 10 temperatures in Celsius. Write a
function to convert them to Fahrenheit and print the minimum,
maximum, and average.
o
o
Key Concepts: Arrays, operations, functions.
o
o
Challenge: Add validation to ensure temperatures are realistic (e.g., -
50°C to 50°C).
Time: 7 hours (2h learning, 3h practice, 2h project).
Week 4: Pandas for Data Manipulation
Goal: Master data manipulation with Pandas.
Topics:
Installing and importing Pandas.
o
o
DataFrames and Series (creation, indexing, filtering).
o
o
Loading CSV/Excel files into DataFrames.
o
o
Basic operations (sorting, grouping, handling missing data).
Resources:
Pandas Getting Started (pandas.pydata.org, free).
o
o
YouTube: Data School’s Pandas Tutorials.
o
o
Kaggle: Pandas Course (free).
Practice:
Load a CSV dataset and print the first 5 rows using head().
o
o
Filter rows where a column meets a condition (e.g., age > 18).
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o
Group a dataset by a column and calculate the mean of another
column.
Mini-Project: Student Data Filter
Task: Use a sample student dataset (e.g., grades, subjects). Filter
students with grades above 80 and save the results to a new CSV.
o
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Key Concepts: DataFrames, filtering, file output.
o
o
Challenge: Handle missing grades by replacing them with the column
mean.
Time: 7 hours (2h learning, 3h practice, 2h project).
Week 5: Data Visualization with
Matplotlib
Goal: Create visualizations to communicate insights.
Topics:
Installing and importing Matplotlib.
o
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Basic plots (line, scatter, bar, histogram).
o
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Customizing plots (titles, labels, colors).
o
o
Plotting with Pandas DataFrames.
Resources:
Matplotlib Tutorials (matplotlib.org, free).
o
o
YouTube: Corey Schafer’s Matplotlib Playlist.
o
o
Kaggle: Data Visualization Course (free).
Practice:
Create a line plot of 10 random numbers.
o
o
Make a bar chart comparing categories (e.g., sales by product).
o
o
Plot a histogram of a numerical column from a dataset.
Mini-Project: Sales Dashboard
Task: Use a sample sales dataset (e.g., from Kaggle). Create a bar chart
of total sales by product and a line plot of sales over time.
o
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Key Concepts: Plotting, customization, Pandas integration.
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Challenge: Add a legend and customize colors for clarity.
Time: 7 hours (2h learning, 3h practice, 2h project).
Week 6: Basic Statistics for Data
Analysis
Goal: Understand statistical concepts for data insights.
Topics:
Mean, median, mode, standard deviation.
o
o
Correlation and basic hypothesis testing (e.g., t-test).
o
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Using SciPy for statistical calculations.
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Interpreting statistical results.
Resources:
Khan Academy: Statistics and Probability (free).
o
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YouTube: StatQuest’s Statistics Fundamentals.
o
o
Python Data Science Handbook: Statistics with Python (free).
Practice:
Calculate mean, median, and standard deviation of a dataset column.
o
o
Compute the correlation between two numerical columns.
o
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Perform a t-test on two groups (e.g., male vs. female grades) using
SciPy.
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Mini-Project: Exam Score Analysis
Task: Analyze a dataset of exam scores. Calculate mean, median, and
standard deviation for each subject. Check if scores differ significantly
between two groups (e.g., morning vs. afternoon classes).
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Key Concepts: Descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing.
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Challenge: Visualize the results with a box plot.
Time: 7 hours (2h learning, 3h practice, 2h project).
Week 7: Combining Skills – Data
Cleaning and EDA
Goal: Perform exploratory data analysis (EDA) and clean datasets.
Topics:
Identifying and handling missing data (imputation, dropping).
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Outlier detection and treatment.
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Combining Pandas, NumPy, and Matplotlib for EDA.
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Writing reusable code for data pipelines.
Resources:
Kaggle: Data Cleaning Challenge (free).
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YouTube: Data School’s EDA with Pandas.
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“Python for Data Analysis” by Wes McKinney (free online, Chapters
7–8).
Practice:
Remove or impute missing values in a dataset.
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Identify outliers using a simple rule (e.g., values > 3 standard
deviations).
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Create a summary report with key statistics and visualizations.
Mini-Project: Movie Ratings EDA
Task: Use a movie ratings dataset (e.g., MovieLens from Kaggle).
Clean the data (handle missing values, remove duplicates), calculate
average ratings by genre, and visualize with a bar chart.
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Key Concepts: Data cleaning, EDA, visualization.
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Challenge: Detect and handle outliers in ratings (e.g., unrealistic
values).
Time: 8 hours (2h learning, 4h practice, 2h project).
Week 8: Building a Data Analysis
Workflow
Goal: Integrate skills into a full data analysis workflow.
Topics:
Structuring a data analysis project (load, clean, analyze, visualize,
report).
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Writing modular code with functions.
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Documenting analysis with comments and Markdown.
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Exporting results (CSV, plots, reports).
Resources:
Kaggle: Notebooks section for example workflows.
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YouTube: Sentdex’s Data Analysis with Python.
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“Python for Data Analysis” (Chapter 9).
Practice:
Create a function to load, clean, and summarize a dataset.
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Combine multiple plots into a single figure (e.g., subplots).
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Write a short report summarizing findings from a dataset.
Mini-Project: Retail Sales Analysis
Task: Analyze a retail dataset (e.g., Kaggle’s Superstore dataset). Load
the data, clean it, calculate key metrics (e.g., total sales by region), and
create a multi-plot dashboard (bar chart, line plot). Export results to a
CSV and a PDF plot.
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Key Concepts: Full workflow, modular code, reporting.
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Challenge: Optimize code for reusability across different datasets.
Time: 8 hours (2h learning, 4h practice, 2h project).
Post-Learning Projects
These 5 projects of increasing difficulty will help you apply and expand your data
analysis skills. Each reinforces core concepts and introduces new challenges.
Project 1: Personal Budget Tracker (Beginner)
Description: Build a program to analyze your monthly expenses. Load a CSV
of expenses (e.g., category, amount, date), calculate totals by category, and
visualize spending with a pie chart.
Key Concepts Reinforced: Pandas (DataFrame operations), Matplotlib (pie
charts), data cleaning, basic statistics.
Estimated Time: 10–15 hours.
Challenge: Add a feature to compare spending across multiple months.
Project 2: Weather Data Analysis (Beginner-
Intermediate)
Description: Download a weather dataset (e.g., from NOAA or Kaggle).
Analyze temperature and precipitation trends over time, calculate monthly
averages, and visualize with line plots and histograms.
Key Concepts Reinforced: Pandas (grouping, filtering), NumPy (array
operations), Matplotlib (multi-plots), EDA.
Estimated Time: 15–20 hours.
Challenge: Detect and explain unusual weather patterns (e.g., outliers).
Project 3: E-Commerce Sales Dashboard
(Intermediate)
Description: Use a sample e-commerce dataset (e.g., Kaggle’s Online Retail).
Clean the data, calculate metrics like total revenue and top-selling products,
and create a dashboard with bar charts and scatter plots.
Key Concepts Reinforced: Data cleaning, Pandas (advanced grouping),
Matplotlib (dashboards), statistical analysis.
Estimated Time: 20–25 hours.
Challenge: Add a feature to predict future sales using simple linear regression
(learn SciPy’s linregress).
Project 4: Social Media Sentiment Analysis
(Intermediate-Advanced)
Description: Analyze a dataset of social media posts (e.g., from Kaggle or a
public X dataset). Clean the text data, calculate basic sentiment scores (e.g.,
using TextBlob), and visualize sentiment trends over time.
Key Concepts Reinforced: Text processing, Pandas (text manipulation),
Matplotlib (time series plots), basic NLP.
Estimated Time: 25–30 hours.
Challenge: Group sentiments by topic or keyword and compare across groups.
Project 5: Stock Market Analysis (Advanced)
Description: Use a stock price dataset (e.g., from Yahoo Finance via
yfinance). Calculate moving averages, volatility, and correlations between
stocks. Visualize trends and create a report comparing stock performance.
Key Concepts Reinforced: Advanced Pandas (rolling windows), NumPy
(financial calculations), Matplotlib (complex plots), full workflow.
Estimated Time: 30–40 hours.
Challenge: Build a simple predictive model using linear regression to forecast
stock prices.
Tips for Success
Practice Daily: Spend 30–60 minutes daily on coding to retain concepts.
Use Kaggle: Download free datasets and explore notebooks for inspiration.
Debug Independently: Use Stack Overflow or Python documentation to solve
errors.
Build a Portfolio: Host projects on GitHub to showcase your work.
Ask for Feedback: Share your code on r/learnpython or with peers for
improvement.
Resources
Free: Codecademy, Kaggle, Khan Academy, Python Data Science Handbook.
Paid (Optional): Coursera’s Python for Data Science (audit for free), Create
& Learn’s Python for AI ($50–$100).
Datasets: Kaggle, UCI Machine Learning Repository, data.gov.
