MY472: Data for Data Scientists (AT26)

Autumn Term 2026

This course builds foundational fluency with digital data: what it is, how it is represented, and how it is acquired, stored, managed, and presented in social science research and data science applications.

Have you enrolled or applied to audit? Start here

Once you have decided to take MY472, go to Getting started with MY472.

If you wish to audit, please submit an application before going to Getting started with MY472.

Course instructors

Dr Ryan Hübert (course convenor)  
Associate Professor, Department of Methodology

Dr Lanabi La Lova  
LSE Fellow, Department of Methodology

Dr Thomas Robinson  
Assistant Professor, Department of Methodology

Sylvia (Likun) Tian (GTA)  
PhD Student, Department of Economics

Booking office hours

All office hours must be pre-booked via LSE's StudentHub. Per department policy, GTA(s) do not hold regular office hours.

Format and scheduling

This course contains 10 weeks of instruction: weeks 1-5, and weeks 7-11. Week 6 is LSE's reading week and there is no instruction in this course.

The course features lectures and seminars:

• Lectures: two hours each week on Wednesdays from 13:00 to 15:00 in CLM.2.02.
• Seminars: 1.5-2 hours of "lab-style" seminars each week. See the LSE Timetable for times and locations. You must attend your assigned seminar and bring your laptop.

Consult the campus map if you need to find a building at LSE.

Device Guidelines

Sustained attention is important for learning, and a focused classroom benefits everyone. Device use can interrupt that attention, both for the person using the device and for others nearby.

Please keep phones put away during class except when needed for a class activity or in the event of an emergency. Headphones and earbuds should be removed before class begins. Laptops and tablets are welcome for class related work, but please refrain from messaging, social media, unrelated browsing, and other forms of multitasking during class. These activities can distract nearby students as well as the instructor. Instructors may at times remind individual students to limit their device use or reduce other distracting behaviour when it is affecting the learning environment.

Any unauthorised audio, video, photographic, or screen recording of an instructor or another student is strictly prohibited. Recording is permitted only with explicit permission or as part of an approved adjustment that has been communicated to the instructor. Unauthorised recording will be referred for consideration under LSE disciplinary procedures.

Course materials

There are three places where course materials can be found.

1. Moodle: https://moodle.lse.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=16592
   Contains basic information; used very rarely after week 1.
2. Course website: https://lse-my472.github.io/
   Contains the course syllabus and brief outline of topics; updated very rarely.
3. Course GitHub organisation: https://github.com/lse-my472/
   Contains all course materials; for enrolled students only. Here you will find:
   • Lecture slides will be posted as PDFs at least one hour before lecture.
   • Seminar materials (including code and data) will be posted by 8 am each day of seminar. You will receive more details about how to access these during week 1.
   • Other learning resources will be posted as necessary, including readings, videos, test preparation materials, etc.

Once you enrol or are approved to audit, you should get started at Getting started with MY472.

Registration and auditing

Any questions or problems relating to course registration should be directed to the Methodology Department staff at methodology.admin@lse.ac.uk.

Students interested in auditing this course should complete this form and await a reply. If you are approved, then get started at Getting started with MY472.

Communication

Once you enrol, all course communication (announcements, questions about course content, and technical help) happens in a private community space in the course GitHub organisation. Joining instructions are in Getting started with MY472.

Following course announcements

Enrolled students must follow the community space and correctly set up notifications. Missing an announcement is not an acceptable reason for missing a deadline, an assessment, or any other course requirement.

You may also email the course instructors as needed. If you do:

• Use your LSE email address. Please do not send instructors emails from personal email accounts.
• You should contact the course convenor for general course information. For any registration or enrolment questions, please contact the department (see below).
• Please keep emails short and ask questions that are easy to answer quickly. For more involved questions about course content, please sign up for office hours.

Administrative support

The course instructors do not handle administrative matters such as registration, timetabling, deferrals or adjustments. For any administrative queries, please contact the department Professional Services Staff at methodology.admin@lse.ac.uk.

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Attribution statement

The teaching materials in this course have been iteratively developed by current and former instructors, including Pablo Barberá, Ken Benoit, Daniel de Kadt, Friedrich Geiecke, Ryan Hübert, Akitaka Matsuo and Thomas Robinson.