Idaho State University · College of Business

BA 3316
Weekly Schedule

Introduction to Data Analytics

Abigail Cormier · Fall 2026 · In-person

Last updated August 31, 2026

How the week works

Homework is due Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Exams are taken in class, on paper.

Exam and project dates

These dates are firm and non-negotiable.

Pre-project Exercise, Wed Sep 9
Exam 1, Tue Sep 29, in class
Project Progress Check (optional), Sun Oct 11
Exam 2, Tue Nov 17, in class
Project final submission, Sun Nov 22
Exam 3 and Project Accountability, Fri Dec 18, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Registrar deadlines

Add/drop, Fri Sep 4
Withdraw from the course, Fri Oct 30

Weekly schedule

Data fundamentals (Aug 24-28)

Reading: Healy, ch. 2; the setup guide and Project Guide; Bekes & Kezdi, ch. 1; Bueno de Mesquita & Fowler, ch. 1

IRL: “How Posit helped Redfin move data from spreadsheets to a reproducible data science environment,” Posit Customer Stories

~~Homework 0, Sun Aug 30~~ cancelled, credited to everyone

Beginning to learn (Aug 31-Sep 4)

Reading: Bekes & Kezdi, chs. 2-3

IRL: “What Can Uber Teach Us About the Gender Pay Gap?” Freakonomics Radio, episode 317

ADD/DROP DEADLINE, Fri Sep 4

Homework 2, Sun Sep 6

Models for exploration (Sep 7-11)

Reading: Bekes & Kezdi, ch. 4; Bueno de Mesquita & Fowler, chs. 2, 4

IRL: Stanford Digital Economies Lab, Canaries Dashboard

Pre-project Exercise, Wed Sep 9

Homework 3, Sun Sep 13

Making inferences (Sep 14-18)

Reading: Bekes & Kezdi, chs. 5-6; Bueno de Mesquita & Fowler, ch. 6

IRL: “The Cybernetic Teammate,” One Useful Thing, 22 Mar 25

Homework 4, Sun Sep 20

Measurement error, sample selection, and confounding (Sep 21-25)

Reading: Bueno de Mesquita & Fowler, ch. 16

IRL: “Using internal CPS data to reevaluate trends in labor-earnings gaps,” Monthly Labor Review, August 2009

Homework 5, Sun Sep 27

Exam 1, then the Bayesian approach (Sep 28-Oct 2)

Reading: Bueno de Mesquita & Fowler, ch. 15; “Bayes theorem, the geometry of changing beliefs,” 3Blue1Brown

IRL: “Using Bayesian Updating to Improve Decisions under Uncertainty,” California Management Review, 2020

EXAM 1, Tue Sep 29, in class

Regression fundamentals (Oct 5-9; Oct 12-16; Oct 19-23)

Reading: Bueno de Mesquita & Fowler, ch. 5; Bekes & Kezdi, chs. 7-10; Angrist & Pischke, ch. 2

IRL: “Anybody Can Win, but Everybody’s Gonna Lose,” Against the Rules, season 4, episode 10

Project Progress Check (optional), Sun Oct 11

Homework 6, Sun Oct 25

Potential outcomes and causal inference (Oct 26-30)

Reading: Bekes & Kezdi, chs. 19-20; Bueno de Mesquita & Fowler, chs. 3, 9-11; Angrist & Pischke, ch. 1

IRL: Dell’Acqua et al., “The Cybernetic Teammate: A Field Experiment on Generative AI and Teamwork,” Organization Science 37(4), 2026

WITHDRAWAL DEADLINE, Fri Oct 30

Homework 7, Sun Nov 1

Regression discontinuity (Nov 2-6)

Reading: Bueno de Mesquita & Fowler, ch. 12; Angrist & Pischke, ch. 4

IRL: “Tom Brady, A.D.H.D., and a Really Bad Headache,” Freakonomics M.D., 11 Jul 23. Companion paper: Layton et al., “Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder and Month of School Enrollment,” NEJM, 2018

Homework 8, Sun Nov 8

Difference in differences (Nov 9-13)

Reading: Bekes & Kezdi, ch. 22; Bueno de Mesquita & Fowler, ch. 13; Angrist & Pischke, ch. 5

IRL: “Is Facebook Bad for Your Mental Health?” Freakonomics M.D., 8 Dec 22

Homework 9, Sun Nov 15

Exam 2 and Project Assistance (Nov 16-20)

Thursday is an in-class coding session for the Project. Laptop day.

EXAM 2, Tue Nov 17, in class

PROJECT, Sun Nov 22

Fall recess, Nov 23-27. No classes, nothing due.

Introduction to machine learning (Nov 30-Dec 4; Dec 7-11)

Reading: Bekes & Kezdi, chs. 13-14

IRL: “In Defense of Zillow’s Besieged Data Scientists,” Medium, 16 Nov 2021

Homework 10, Sun Dec 13

Finals week (Dec 14-18)

Exam 3 and Project Accountability, Fri Dec 18, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.