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I'm interested in moving into data science and I'd like to learn R.

I've looked over previous questions and found a list of resources for learning R here and here.

However, these questions were posed before the Coursera data science specialization began, taught by the biostatistics department at Johns Hopkins.

Would a program like this be worthwhile, or should I stick with the previously posted list of suggestions. Finally, if the program might be preferable, would paying for the specialization certification be worth anything to employers? Would this even be something to list on a resume, or not advisable?

Thanks for any help on this. I've joined cross validated a week or so ago from mathematics stack exchange and I've really appreciated all the insightful input.

Community
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    Why don't you take the first couple sessions for free and then decide? The whole series costs about 500 dollars and I am unable to justify this expense to learn a software that is free, with the biggest and most active online support community, documented with examples, and with plenty of free texts available. – Penguin_Knight Nov 17 '14 at 06:35
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    The taught modules equate to three to five weeks full-time study: so probably worth putting on your CV unless it's already jam-packed; probably not worth paying for the certificates unless they'll be all you've got in that general area. Paying for the full course means you get to do the project (a week's work more or less): again, that's probably only of use on a CV if you've nothing much else to show (applying what you've learnt at work or on a graduate/undergraduate degree project would be better.) – Scortchi - Reinstate Monica Nov 17 '14 at 10:43

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I listened the first parts of this specialization and I was quite disappointed. They seemed to me boring and not very interesting. After that I went through this course Data Analysis and Statistical Inference. In my opinion this one is much more interesting, enthralling and clear. I highly recommend it to everyone who is interested in data science and R.

Also EdX recently starts the course Foundations of Data Analysis. Now I'm listening it, in my opinion it is a little easier than Data Analysis and Statistical Inference, but some exercises very interesting and allow to look to the same thing from different side.

Also you can have a look at reviews on coursetalk.org to understand what courses worth you time and money.

Dumka
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