Enroll Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/sas-programming-advanced
If you’re a business analyst or an intermediate SAS programmer looking to enhance your data manipulation skills, then the course ‘Doing More with SAS Programming’ on Coursera is an excellent opportunity for you. Building upon the foundation laid out in the ‘Getting Started with SAS Programming’ course, this course takes your understanding of SAS programming to the next level.
The course begins with a comprehensive overview that familiarizes you with what to expect, followed by setting up the software and data needed for the course activities. This attention to detail right from the start ensures you’re properly equipped to dive into the coursework.
One of the standout features of this course is its focus on controlling DATA step processing. Understanding the intricacies of how the DATA step processes data allows you to efficiently manage output rows to new tables. This knowledge is invaluable for business analysts who often work with large datasets.
The module on summarizing data is another highlight. Here, you’ll learn essential techniques such as creating an accumulating column and processing data in groups. This helps in generating running totals and performing actions at the beginning and end of grouped data—skills that are essential for effective data analysis.
Moreover, the course provides insights into manipulating data with functions. You’ll learn how to work with numeric, date, and character values, as well as convert data types—a must-know for anyone looking to maximize the potential of SAS programming.
Creating and using custom formats is also covered, which allows for enhanced data presentation. The ability to format your output can make a significant impact when presenting data, ensuring clarity and professionalism.
The module on combining tables offers essential techniques for data integration, teaching you to concatenate and merge tables while understanding matching and non-matching rows—skills that are crucial in data-driven decision-making.
One of the most time-saving components of the course is the section on processing repetitive code. By mastering iterative processing with DO loops, you’ll be able to handle redundant coding tasks with ease, thus increasing your efficiency in SAS programming.
Lastly, the course introduces you to techniques for restructuring tables, empowering you to transpose data and make it suit your analytical needs. These are practical skills that are often required by data professionals in their day-to-day tasks.
In summary, ‘Doing More with SAS Programming’ is a well-structured course designed for those with a foundational understanding of SAS who are eager to delve deeper into advanced data manipulation techniques. The content is comprehensive, and the practical applications of the concepts introduced will undoubtedly contribute to your professional growth in data analytics.
Overall, I highly recommend this course for anyone aiming to enhance their SAS programming skills and make the most of their data analysis capabilities.
Enroll Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/sas-programming-advanced