Data is the working language of modern decision-making, from automated systems to medical diagnostics and public policy. But the skills needed to lead data-driven decisions are rarely taught and are often wrapped in unnecessary complexity. Professionals across a wide range of fields now handle data they were never trained to manage and face ethical risks arising from personal data and opaque algorithmic tools.

Where algorithms produce the answers, the critical skill shifts from generating results to interrogating the process that produced them. That takes analytical rigour, and it takes the presentational skill to persuade others against a backdrop of complexity and misinformation. Confronting decision-makers with evidence that contradicts their assumptions takes courage.

This course builds your confidence across the full research cycle — the curation, ethics, analysis and presentation of data — so you can drive appropriate decisions and stand behind them.

What makes it different:

• It is modelled on the Sloyd approach to technical training. Each day is a complete, self-contained research exercise that builds on the last, so even partial completion leaves you with usable skills.

• Algorithms and statistical techniques are not taught in isolation from the research process, and ethical dilemmas are built into the analysis rather than bolted on as a separate module.

• Every day starts with a real research question and works forward from there, at a pace that suits your current level.

• Case studies and tutorials are drawn from public health, economics and social issues, and the course is open to anyone with an interest in data