value_counts() for distributions in Data Analysis Python - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Using value_counts() to Analyze Distributions

📖 Scenario: Imagine you work in a small bookstore. You have a list of books sold in one day. You want to find out how many times each book was sold to understand which books are popular.

🎯 Goal: You will create a list of sold books, then use value_counts() to find the count of each book sold. Finally, you will print the distribution of book sales.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a list called books_sold with exact book titles.

Create a Pandas Series from the list.

Use value_counts() on the Series to get the count of each book.

Print the result.

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Counting how many times each product or item appears in sales data helps businesses understand customer preferences and manage inventory.

💼 Career

Data analysts and data scientists often use <code>value_counts()</code> to quickly summarize categorical data and find patterns.

1

Create the list of books sold

Create a list called books_sold with these exact book titles in this order: 'Python Basics', 'Data Science 101', 'Python Basics', 'Machine Learning', 'Data Science 101', 'Python Basics'.

Data Analysis Python

# Create the list books_sold with the exact book titles
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Remember to use square brackets [] to create a list and separate items with commas.

2

Create a Pandas Series from the list

Import the pandas library as pd. Then create a variable called books_series by converting the books_sold list into a Pandas Series using pd.Series().

Data Analysis Python

import pandas as pd

# Convert books_sold list to a Pandas Series called books_series
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use import pandas as pd to import Pandas. Then use pd.Series() to convert the list.

3

Use value_counts() to find the distribution

Create a variable called book_counts by applying value_counts() on the books_series variable.

Data Analysis Python

# Use value_counts() on books_series and store in book_counts
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Call value_counts() directly on the Series variable.

4

Print the distribution of book sales

Print the book_counts variable to display how many times each book was sold.

Data Analysis Python

# Print the book_counts variable
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use print(book_counts) to show the counts.