Practice on realistically messy data
This bundle gives you five fictional organizations, each with a different kind of mess: codes spelled ten ways, money stored as text, Excel serial-number dates, free-text statuses, a department reorg, hourly vs. annual pay, bot traffic, time zones, and campaign tags buried in URLs.
1. Clean
Fix the raw files with a numbered, commented R script that checks its own work.
2. Answer
Three business questions per project, with charts and auto-written findings.
3. Build
A Tableau Public dashboard from a sheet-by-sheet plan: calculated fields, filters, and actions in most, plus layout.
4. Present
Put it in your portfolio and walk through it in a 60-second interview answer.
The five projects
Retail sales
Kettle & Pine Goods (fictional)
Money as text, Excel serial dates, returns as negative quantities, SKUs missing leading zeros, test transactions.
Student retention
Northfield Ridge University (fictional)
Duplicate rows, inconsistent codes, wrong-scale values, IDs that don't match across files.
Clinic appointments
Maple Hollow Family Clinic (fictional)
Two date-time formats, free-text status, impossible ages, several versions of one appointment.
HR turnover
Tarnwick Freight (fictional)
Many job records per employee, a department-reorg rename, hourly vs. annual pay, placeholder "still employed" dates, free-text exit reasons.
Web marketing
Glimmerfen Candle Co. (fictional)
Campaign tags buried in URLs, bot traffic, UTC vs. local time zones, ad spend in a wide layout.
What's included
- 5 complete projects, each with a data generator, messy raw CSVs, a numbered clean + analyze R script with automatic checks, 3 charts, auto-written findings, a Tableau-ready CSV, a data dictionary, and a Tableau Public dashboard plan
- Shared R helpers and a one-click
run_all.Rthat rebuilds everything from scratch - DISCLAIMER.txt and a README (PDF): setup, suggested order, the built-in "traps" explained, ways to make each project your own, and how to present it
- One zip download (68 files)
Data sizes (all synthetic)
- Retail: ~14,500 sales lines, 70 products, 6 stores
- Retention: ~5,000 students, ~14,000 term records, ~5,800 service-visit records
- Clinic: ~18,900 appointment rows, 6,000 patients
- HR: 1,850 employees, ~6,000 job records
- Marketing: 69,000 web sessions, ~1,400 orders, 181 days of ad spend
Who it's for
- Aspiring and junior data analysts who want portfolio projects beyond the usual practice datasets
- Career changers who want projects across several industries (education, retail, healthcare, HR, marketing)
- R learners ready to move past tutorials to a full clean → analyze → present workflow
- Tableau learners who want realistic data with a story to tell
What you need
Free tools only: R, RStudio Desktop, and Tableau Public. Basic R familiarity helps (you can open and run a script).
FAQ
Is any of this real data?
No. Every dataset is synthetic, generated from random numbers by the included scripts. All organizations, people, and IDs are invented; any resemblance to a real one is coincidental.
How much R do I need to know?
Enough to open RStudio and run a script. Every step is numbered and commented, and the README walks you through setup. Reading the scripts line by line is the learning.
Do I need a paid Tableau license?
No. Everything is built for Tableau Public, which is free.
How long does each project take?
Plan on a few hours to clean and analyze, plus 2–3 hours to build each dashboard from the plan (rough estimate).
Can I put these projects on my resume and portfolio?
Yes, that's what they're for. Label them as practice projects on synthetic data; the README includes a resume-bullet template and an interview opener that do this, plus ways to customize each project so your version is your own.
Is the free sample the same as Project 1?
Yes. The sample is the complete retail-sales project, identical to Project 1 in the bundle. The bundle adds the other four projects.
Can I share or resell the files?
No. The license is for your personal learning and portfolio use. Please don't redistribute the files themselves; publishing your own dashboards and write-ups is fine.
What format is the download?
One zip file with R scripts, CSV files, Markdown docs, PNG charts, and a PDF README.
Refunds?
Email within 14 days of purchase for a full refund: njohnsonlovesmath@gmail.com. See the refund policy.
Terms of use
Last updated: October 21, 2026
- License. Buying the bundle, or downloading the free sample, gives you a personal, non-transferable license to use the files for your own learning and portfolio. You may publish your own dashboards, charts, write-ups, and code that you build from the projects.
- No redistribution. Don't share, resell, upload, or give away the files themselves, in whole or in part.
- Synthetic data and independence. All data is synthetic, generated from random numbers by the included scripts. All organizations, people and IDs are fictional; any resemblance to real ones is coincidental. Provided “as is,” without warranty of any kind. This is an independent personal project, not affiliated with or endorsed by any employer, school or other institution. Tableau and Tableau Public are products of Salesforce; not affiliated with or endorsed by Tableau/Salesforce.
- As is. The files are educational materials provided as is, without any guarantee of a particular result, such as a job offer.
- Payments. Orders are processed by our online reseller, Lemon Squeezy, which acts as merchant of record and handles payment, tax, and receipts.
Refund policy
Email within 14 days of purchase for a full refund: njohnsonlovesmath@gmail.com. Include your order number. Refunds are issued through our reseller, Lemon Squeezy, to your original payment method.
Privacy
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- We don't sell your personal information.
- Questions or deletion requests: njohnsonlovesmath@gmail.com.
Disclaimer. All data is synthetic, generated from random numbers by the included scripts. All organizations, people and IDs are fictional; any resemblance to real ones is coincidental. Provided “as is,” without warranty of any kind. This is an independent personal project, not affiliated with or endorsed by any employer, school or other institution. Tableau and Tableau Public are products of Salesforce; not affiliated with or endorsed by Tableau/Salesforce.
Contact: njohnsonlovesmath@gmail.com