This course introduces you to analytic tools that are valuable for making sense of what are—all too often—complex problem situations and reaching data driven solutions. We start by exploring the art of deconstructing complex situations and structuring the potential problems that may be driving those problem situations. From there, you will be provided with a data set related to your topic and the course shifts to focus on a selection of foundational tools and techniques used to analyze the problems that you defined at the beginning of the course. Topics to be covered include data visualization, sampling, estimation, and a variety of hypothesis testing techniques. The course will also include an introduction to the use of the R software environment, using “R Commander” as a tool for data analysis.