Last updated on August 3rd, 2023 at 09:13 am
The process of assessing data using analytical and logical rationale, to inspect each detail and component of the data, can be described as data analysis. For example, you get a jigsaw puzzle and sort it in groups, it then becomes important that you analyze how the pieces in the group fit and progress towards the larger picture.
Data analysis is the process of breaking down data, evaluating it for trends over a time period, comparing it with other sectors. Visualizing the data in different perspectives and intuitively accessing it, are all efforts put into data analysis.
Data analysis starts from asking the right questions, about the past, the present, and where do you want to be. Data analysis thus can also be described as the primary element of data crunching, data mining and business intelligence, as it becomes a process of acquiring insight that initiates business solutions and decisions.
Data analysis as a process might differ from company to company, however, it does have some steps which remain common.
In data analysis the objective has to be set by the data science team, then they need to identify the levers and metrics that need to be evaluated, methods of data collection along with the channel of data collection should then be finalized. To improve the quality of the data and to avoid making incorrect conclusions, the data should be checked for any inconsistencies.
And lastly, the data science team will apply advanced analytics, where large-scale data analysis platforms are created to automate and optimise the process for future purposes.
Through data analysis, organizations get better insights and gain information that helps them in making informed decisions, to better serve their customers, predict customer behaviour, and relatively increase productivity and overall revenue of the organization.
By now we all understand that companies need data analysis to help them make better decisions and the person of importance in this process is the Data Analyst. after all, they are the people who give meaning to values and numbers, So, in short, a data analyst’s job is to take the data and help companies make better decisions, but how do they do that???
As you see there are many types of data analyst, they work in a wide range of areas, like, Business Intelligence, Data Assurance, Data Quality, Finance, Higher Education, Marketing, Sales etc…, they can be involved in many parts of the analytics process.
Essentially they will be involved in building systems for collecting data and compiling their findings into reports and dashboard for better navigation of the organization.
Main responsibilities of a data analyst include……
- Producing Reports
- Spotting Trends
- Inter-Process Collaboration
- Collecting Data and Setting up Infrastructure for the same
A toolset for a data analyst would comprise of, strong working knowledge of Excel, SQL, Google Analytics, Visual Optimizer, Tableau, Knowledge in programming languages like R, Python etc…,
Data that is collected and not evaluated it worthless. A data analyst adds value to the data so that the organization or the client can move their business in the right direction based on their strategic goals.
