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).

o
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
o

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
o

Basic plots (line, scatter, bar, histogram).

o
o

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
o

Key Concepts: Plotting, customization, Pandas integration.

o
o

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
o
 Using SciPy for statistical calculations.

o
o

Interpreting statistical results.

Resources:

Khan Academy: Statistics and Probability (free).

o
o

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
o

Perform a t-test on two groups (e.g., male vs. female grades) using
SciPy.
 o

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).

o
o

Key Concepts: Descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing.

o
o

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).

 o
o

Outlier detection and treatment.

o
o

Combining Pandas, NumPy, and Matplotlib for EDA.

o
o

Writing reusable code for data pipelines.

Resources:

Kaggle: Data Cleaning Challenge (free).

o
o

YouTube: Data School’s EDA with Pandas.

o
o

“Python for Data Analysis” by Wes McKinney (free online, Chapters

7–8).

Practice:

Remove or impute missing values in a dataset.

o
 o

Identify outliers using a simple rule (e.g., values > 3 standard

deviations).

o
o

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.

o
o

Key Concepts: Data cleaning, EDA, visualization.

o
o

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).

o
o

Writing modular code with functions.

o
o

Documenting analysis with comments and Markdown.

o
o

Exporting results (CSV, plots, reports).

Resources:

Kaggle: Notebooks section for example workflows.

o
o

YouTube: Sentdex’s Data Analysis with Python.

o
o

“Python for Data Analysis” (Chapter 9).


Practice:

Create a function to load, clean, and summarize a dataset.

o
o

Combine multiple plots into a single figure (e.g., subplots).

o
o

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.

o
o

Key Concepts: Full workflow, modular code, reporting.

o
o

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.