Online Learning
Data Management Fundamentals
Data Management Fundamentals is our beginner’s guide to data success for learners of all levels.
The key to the effective use of data is managing it well. Learn how to care for and use your data effectively with our Data Management Fundamentals course.
This course provides an easy-to-understand introduction to the essential ideas in data management. It includes up-to-date examples and case studies to help you relate these ideas to what others are doing in this area. Concepts covered directly relate to how modern, data-focused businesses operate today.
This course has been developed by The Data Lab, in partnership with Bayes Centre, University of Edinburgh, effini, and the DDI Data Skills Gateway.
Who is this course for?
With data management skills highly in high demand, the course provides an excellent introduction to data management for learners of all levels. This course is for people who collect, store, manage and analyse data as part of their job but whose primary job function may be outside the field of data. For example:
- Managers, technicians, clerical support workers
- People working in a data-related role but who are unfamiliar with data management
What will you learn?
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- Describe ways in which data can be cared for, and how organisations benefit from caring for their data
- Identify the features of high-quality data and suggest ways in which the quality of a dataset could be improved
- Know how to protect your personal data and understand how organisations can keep their data safe
- Describe how data can be misused and the ethical risks with using data – Explain what data bias is, its causes and how it can be mitigated against
Course structure
The Data Lab online courses are not technical and can be done at your own pace. Discover our full portfolio of online courses.
Module 1: Introduction
- An introduction to data management
- Caring for different types of datasets, reference data, main data, transactional data and metadata
- How to create a data dictionary
- The data lifecycle
- Data governance, security, and quality
- Data architecture, modelling and design
- Data storage, operations, integration and interoperability
Module 2: Data Quality
- Understanding high and low quality data
- The impacts and dimensions of high and low quality data
- Improving the quality of data
Module 3: Data Security
- Keeping your personal data secure
- Password managers and extra protection
- Device security, firewalls, WIFI and protecting your information online
- Keeping organisational data secure
- Understanding data breaches and how the law can protect your data
- GDPR roles and right of access
- Encryption and other methods of data protection
Module 4: Data Ethics
- Understanding data ethics
- Understanding data misuse
- Malicious data misuse for personal, political or commercial gain
- What to do if you misuse, or see data misuse
- Understanding data, sampling and algorithmic bias
- Causes of bias and how to mitigate bias
Module 5: Wrap Up
- Final thoughts and review of key concepts
- Further resources and next steps
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