QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME – Department of Data Science on ‘FOUNDATION OF STATISTICS FOR DATA SCIENCE’

The Department of Data Science, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Pune, Lavasa Campus – Data Science Department organized a six days Quality Improvement Programme titled '"Foundation of Statistics for Data Science' for the faculty members from 26-06-2021 to 02-07-2021. Due The program was organized in the online mode due to the prevailing pandemic situation. Apart from the online sessions, the participants were required to complete certain works that were assigned to them.  

Day 1 of the Quality Improvement Programme began with a silent prayer. Dr Samiksha Shukla, HoD, welcomed all the faculty members to the QIP. Dr Fr. Jossy P. George, Director and Dean, CHRIST(Deemed to be University) Pune Lavasa Campus, gave his inaugural address. He briefly talked about the cumulation of data in today's era and how to handle them efficiently.  Dr.S.Vijayalakshmi, Associate Professor, Department of Data Science, introduced the External Expert, Mr Gourav Manjrekar. Mr Manjrekar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics from the renowned University of Central India. The resource person then took over the session for the day.

Session 1 began with an introduction to basic concepts of Statistics such as Mean, Median, Mode, Range, Standard Deviation, Quartile Deviation, Variance, Skewness and Kurtosis. Mr Gourav Manjrekar explained these concepts by giving numerical examples. The faculty members were given problems to solve while performing the numerical, making the session an interactive one. These were followed by questions regarding Skewness and Kurtosis, which was clarified by the Expert. This brought to the end of Day of the QIP.

In Day 2 Session 1, Graphical representations were discussed by the Expert. Histogram, Box plot( Five-point summary) and Empirical Rule and Shape of Frequency Polygon were explained in detail. He presented the concepts with a theoretical explanation, followed by demonstrating how to solve all the above with the help of EXCEL. Day 2 Session 2 started with the introduction to the hypothesis testing related to the inferential statistics by describing the population and sample. The Expert then engaged the session by explaining in detail the concepts of Hypothesis Testing, degrees of freedom and t-test. Mr Manjrekar gave a demo on how to practically perform all the above-explained concepts using Excel. Finally, the session concluded with clarification of doubts raised by the faculty members.

Mr Gourav Manjrekar started Day 3 Session 1 by diving into the concept of Estimation concept and explained the various theorems related to it. He explained the types of Estimators and Bias. He also gave a description of what is the Standard Error of the Mean. Mr Manjrekar then gave a practical demo on how to implement these concepts with EXCEL.

Day 3 Session 2 commenced at 2.30 PM as per the schedule. Mr Manjrekar started the session with introduction to all the basic terminologies related to Probability. He discussed the various rules related to probability and solved some sample problems involving probability.The Expert then illustrated how to solve those problems using Excel. The session was an informative and interactive one as all the faculty members solved the problems at the same time. 

In Day 4 Session 1, concepts such as random variable, discrete probability distribution involving Poisson and Binomial and continuous probability distribution were discussed in detail. Mr Manjrekar presented suitable pictorial representations of the concepts, real-time problems and solutions, which was very useful. The session ended with the clarification of doubt by the faculties. 

Day 4 Session 2 of the QIP, started with the introduction to Regression Modelling. Mr Manjrejar presented the various linear models. He gave detailed descriptions on least squares regression involving simple linear regression, least squares coefficient estimators and computing the regression coefficients. He also explained the difference in solving the same using Python with that of Excel. The session was also an interactive one with the faculty members asking questions pertaining to the topic and getting clarification regarding the same. The Expert showed the live demo of implementing the models in Excel and the faculties were asked to solve the sample problems. The faculty members participated in solving the problems with interest and coming up with solutions. The session concluded with problem solving by the expert along with the faculties. 

Day 5 Session 1 was on the topic of Multiple Linear Regression. An introduction to multiple linear regression model followed by an explanation to the three-dimensional graphing model, estimation of coefficients and error variations.  The session concluded with problem solving by the expert along with the faculties based on the concept. Session 2 of Day 5 engaged in the topic of Time Series Analysis. A brief introduction to Time Series Analysis was given, and the various components of Time-Series were explained. Mr Manjrekar discussed Time-Series Component Analysis, followed by Least Square Method, fitting of Linear Trend. He explained the concepts with suitable examples. This was followed by a discussion of real-time problems related to the 3-Year and 4-Year Moving Average methods. Mr Manjrekar demonstrated the concepts using excel for better understanding. The faculties were asked questions related to the various steps involved in solving the problems. The faculties were asked to solve using any one of the steps and come up with solutions. 

The First session of the final day of the QIP started with an introduction to Seasonal Variation. Mr Manjrekar discussed the various methods for measuring seasonal variations. Methods of Simple Average, Ratio-to-Moving average and Ratio-to-Trend Methods sere explained in detail with suitable examples. The Expert and the faculties engaged in an interactive manner by solving the problems and coming with solutions in a stepwise fashion.

The last session of the day focused on the concept of exponential smoothing followed by forecasting the time period. Mr Manjrekar explained the concepts by solving an example problem using Excel. He gave a live demo with real-time data involving the Indian Population Census to further the understanding of the topic. This was followed by an interactive Question and Answer Session. Mr Gourav Manjrekar ended his session on that note. Dr Samiksha Shukla asked the faculty members to share their feedback on the QIP. The sessions were very informative as well as useful to the faculty as they had engaged in the various topics by the Expert. The QIP concluded with a vote of thanks given by Dr Ravikiran Naik. Thus bringing to the end of the six-day Quality Improvement Programme.